It is cold and I am old. It is dark and I am awake. It is quiet and I am alone.
But it won't be that way for long.
Several of my riders will be joining me for a distance training ride. It will be the longest distance that many of them have ever ridden. At first they will be quiet and apprehesive. Then they will become loud and boistorous.
Then they will become dead silent and determined.
Some will join me at 9:00 am. But Christina, our wonderful intern who recently graduated from Rutgers, will join me as we set out at 7:00 am to get some miles in before everyone else arrives.
No set distance. No set time for completion. Today I simply will ride as far as my horses take me.
Next time I will ride further.
Training hard for the Terry O'Boyle Old Folks Hard Riding Cup to be held in March.
Tradewind, shown above, will be returning from the World Horse Expo this afternoon.
It was a good ride, everybody made it as far as they wanted to, the horses did fine. Now a bunch of us are wiped out tired, and sore, but that is just part of it.
ReplyDeleteRed Feather went the first two loops with me, he worked hard, and was quite the gentleman to ride, than he finished up tired. He is beginning to be more bullet shaped than coal stove shaped, and I can tell he enjoying his work.
Let's see...Sara Lin, Hailey, Samantha, Tim, Krysta, Elmo, Emily, Lydia, Christina, Schuyler, Atilla, Laura, Terry, Christina (no, The other one) Steve, and I, and a few others that my tired mind cannot recall at this early hour, apologies to them..)all rode hard for a very satisfyfing day in the woods. How very satisfying an activity, and how sad that more people do not experience riding horses at all, let alone riding long hard hours that wring out your body and mind, and leave you tired but smiling. Maybe we ought to change that. -Lloyd