Pre Hunting Trail Ride

Scarlet tossing her mane :)
Scarlett and H.B.
Margo and Scarlett

Before and After (kind of...)

Margo and I, February 2009 Margo and I, January 2010 I think I look skinnier... :) Still working on it though...

MLK, Jr Day Trail Ride at Talbot

Tara and I had a great ride, it was really nice out, for the middle of January! Here are some pics of Margo and I that Tara took for me, I thought they were pretty cute!


And here is leggy Amber, waiting patiently for her mom. :)

Winter Riding...

Margo and I went out to hack around Talbot with my friend Melinda over break.



Both the days we were going to try and fox hunt over break got snowed out! Dang!

Holes in my yard and other stuff...

Something is digging BIG holes in my farmyard. It dug one under the back tire of my horse trailer that is big enough to put a soccer ball in. Errr! Something is going to have to go!

Something else was stinking in Dan and my bedroom. What??? We looked (and sniffed) and looked more. I thought Christmas Kitty brought in something dead and hid it. Blah! Well, it turned out to be our purple clover plant! It STINKS!! Weird! It got kicked out on the porch.

Here is a funny pic from Ihasahotdog.com Bass Pro!
I get to leave work early today and go trail ride! Yay! (Even though Margo is STILL missing a shoe! I am borrowing one of Tara's boots for her. :)

Three Day Weekend!

Well, after Friday's crazy storms, I wasn't sure what I would find at my farm when I got home. Thankfully, everything was fine! A few potted plants got blown over, one shutter got blown off the house, and all the lawn chairs were all over. Wheew...

Then I went inside to do some stuff and realized we didn't have any power! Dang! Called the neighbor, their power was out too. She said there were poles down on the way into Ash Grove... Yikes!

Well, I had taken Monday off, planning to go to Branson and hit the outlet malls, so Daniel and I decided to just go ahead and go down there. No fun sitting in a house with no power all night!

Thankfully, Dad was just leaving the cabin in Rockaway, so I called him and asked him to leave the cable hooked up for us. :) We had a nice time there and spent Saturday in Branson shopping. Fun!

So, Sunday, I had plans to ride, but the weather kind of messed that up, so Monday I was dying to ride, but had no one to go with me... *sniff*

So, I told Dan I was going to take Margo to Wilson's Creek and try her out on the trail by herself... Which we have never done before... And Margo definitely prefers to follow over leading when we are out with other horses... So, I wore my helmet, put my cell phone in my pocket, and hit the trail!

Margo was SO good! She was so brave! Once she realized that it was just me and her, she stressed for a minute and whinnied a few times, but then kind of settled down. She acted really spooky about crossing the bridge, so I just got off and lead her over it. Other than that, there were maybe two other times she started blowing at something scary (tree stumps...) so, I would just get off and lead her by them. :)

I am SO proud of her! We even stopped and chatted with another lady on her horse going the opposite direction, and Margo went on her way afterwards without a fight! :) I'm such a proud Mom! :)

Rode at Busiek Yesterday

It was so much fun! I have been there before, but riding there was way more fun! I took my camera, but forgot, until we got back.
It was such a nice ride! Great weather, no mt bikers, pretty stream...
Here is Margo and Amber after our ride...Margo, nice and crusty, booted up to go home... Tara pour water over Amber before this picture, she wasn't that wet!

In Other News

Had a nice weekend even after last weeks freak out with Margo being bred by the neighbor's fugly stud.

Daniel and I went to a neat auction Saturday and scored a few good deals. He picked up a nice hose for his air compressor for $7, I got a leather halter with chain and lead for $4, and my best buy, a Passier English saddle for $95. It is really nice! And it fits Margo!

I got to try it out Sunday at Wilson's Creek. Tara and I were able to fit in an afternoon ride, it was quite nice. Good weather, saw three deer. I tried my new English saddle and liked it a lot. I'll post some pictures soon.

I was all excited to go to the Everton Saddle Club's Coggins Clinic on Sunday, but as I was getting ready to leave, I realized I missed it, it was Saturday! Gah! Oh well...

Plotting and Planning

I got to ride yesterday! Tara and I hauled over to Wilson's Creek and got to enjoy a little sunshine...

Busy weekend coming up, I have to go get a load of hay and have the farrier out to do my two...

Plotting and planning with a friend to ride her TB mare at English shows this summer... Hope that works out... I think I am going to go try the mare this weekend too...

Fun!

Talbot Trail Ride on Ash Wednesday...

Tara and I were able to get out and ride yesterday! We went to the North section of Talbot C.A. in Lawrence Co. Here is the main entrance... (Taking pictures while driving, a la Uncle John, is not as easy as it appears!)

Margo and my rig...

Amber and Tara's rig...

Margo, waiting to go, in her Little Joe Bareback Saddle and Equipedic pad... (She says "Hurry up lady!")

Close up of my saddle and pad...

Close up of Tara's... (We have the same set up here, but different colors... Tara dyed her billets black, I think I am going to as well...)

Amber is so cute...

Margo is ready, let's go!

So we went... We were out for over two hours, it was really nice. Almost hot out... Sorry, no pictures on the trail... You will just have to imagine. :) We did see a herd of deer, that was nice, and we rode along the side of a pretty 5 acre lake...
Here is Margo and I when we got back...

She is silly...

More pictures... Margo had to shake once I got off..

:) That's better...

What a pretty girl... Even all sweaty... Who wouldn't want a mare like her? :)

And so we left... Here we are, 1 mile from the Middle of No Where, Missouri...

And there is my house... "Margo, we are home!"

I Like This Mare...

Link
Doesn't she present a pretty picture?

Working a 1/2 day today! It is supposed to be super nice out. Tara and I are going to the North end of Talbot. Fun!

The Armadillo's Are Awake

Well, I got to go ride yesterday! We planned on going to Wilson's Creek, but thankfully, Tara had the insight to call and make sure they were open first, which they weren't. (They close the horse trails when it is really wet)

So, we ended up going to Hulston Mill at Stockton Lake. It was really nice out, but snow was still hiding in the shadows. Pretty though.

So, not 10 minutes into our ride, both of our mares spook at the same time. We look over and it is a giant armadillo sniffing around. Once the horses saw what it was, they were fine. Which is good, because we came across 4 or 5 armadillos on the trail.

At one point, we came around a bend and one was in the middle of the trail, not 10 feet away, digging through the grass. They must be starving after their winter naps, because he totally ignored us standing there talking and just kept snuffing around. Finally, he turned and saw these two huge horses right over him, and he jumped up with a look of horror and scuttled off.

Armadillos are pretty cute (when they are not dead on the side of the road!) When they get spooked, they jump in the air and kind of bounce a few times before scurrying away. Dan said that is why they are always dead on the side of the road, because instead of letting a car straddle over them, they jump up and get hit. :( Poor things.

It was a fun ride though. I rode my new LJ Bareback Saddle, which was nice, other than one instance... We came across an old pile of junk in the woods, which Margo apparently thought was going to kill or eat her. So she jumps and spins, a pretty big spook, and my saddle started to slide... so I had to do an emergency dismount, otherwise I was coming off (not by choice!)

So, I felt pretty good, to land on my feet and still have the reins in my hand. So, technically, I didn't fall off... :)

Tara and I are planning to go to Busick on Saturday, I am excited as I have never rode (ridden?)there. Fun!

Wire Road CA

Wire Road Conservation Area is located near Crane, MO. I just found out about this place from my friends at Donkey Hollow. (They live just up the road)

Anyway, I want to go ride there really bad! Here is the link to the map of the area.

Fingers crossed for a thaw out by Saturday so I can ride! I-44 is fine, and they plowed Z Hwy yesterday, but my little farm road is still a sheet of ice. No way I am risking that with a horse in the trailer! So, hopefully, the road will melt by tomorrow afternoon!

Talbot Trailride Sunday 10-19-08

My friend Tara and I took our horses, Margo and Amber, to Talbot Conservation Area yesterday for a ride. Talbot is two sections totaling appx 5,000 acres near Mt. Vernon, MO.

We met at 11 a.m. at a parking lot in the southern section. There were already two horse trailers there when we arrived. The weather was wonderful, sun shining, a little crisp, a bit of a breeze blowing. The horses love this weather and they were impatient to be off.

We explored a wooded section that I had never been through, which was fun. The leaves were crunchy and the dappled shade made for a nice atmosphere.

We had one big spook out of our horses when a turkey broke cover and flew off, maybe 20 yards in front of us. A bit of whirling and side dancing, but everyone was fine.

Even with the spook, I think this was my best ride so far on my mare Margo. We are really starting to get to a point where I can anticipate what her reaction is to different things, and I really feel I can trust her. Tara and I were able to enjoy two long streches of trail at a canter, which was super fun! Tara's horse, Amber, is a gaited mare and her canter is gorgeous to watch (out of the corner of my eye!) Her neck was beautifully arched and she struck out her front legs with such elevation it was super pretty!

Here are some photos of the area. Tara commented how lucky we are to be able to ride such varied terrain. Compair these to the ones below of Stockton Lake. All in all, it was a great day! I had so much fun, and I know our horses really enjoyed it by their happy expressions and ears pricked all day!

Pretty views and a Red Tail Hawk (just a speck in the sky in this photo, but he flew quite close to us on the trail)


Here is a shot of a creek that runs through the area, there are a lot of ponds at Talbot, as well.


(Amber's ears improve any photo!)


Lots of fun places to canter around!

Hulston Mill Trail Ride

My friend Tara and I took our horses to Hulston Mill, up on Stockton Lake for a trail ride on Sunday. Here are some pictures of the trail, you can catch an idea of how nice it was. Can't wait to go back when the trees have changed color!
Heading down the trail...

A view of the lake through the trees...

Margo and I...

Down by the lake...

You used to be able to walk out on that rock, but it recently broke off!

Rough terrain (and Amber's ears!)

Four happy girls!

The trail out...

* Not pictured is the tree that stabbed my thigh and pushed me out of the saddle as Margo kept walking, unaware... :) Never say trail riding isn't a rough sport! Ha! I tried to take a picture of my bruise, but the camera couldn't capture the true gore!
Thanks to Tara for sharing her pictures!