RAC (Ride-A-Curly) Adventure Blog

After our roasting ringside weekend -- Zoe and I were happy to get out on the trails on Wednesday for a trip we had planned for awhile. It's hot here (that's an understatement !!) and dry -- but our route is mostly all shaded.. and will include a stop at the river - so although we were in the saddle a LONGitme.. the horses and we were fine with the high temperatures. if we do this again though -- we are definitely going to get larger pommel bags so we can tote along a LOT more water.

Our dynamic duo of Keri and Teasel were the selected mounts for the day... this trip is far too many miles for Fiona and she is still too slow.

We chose our route both for the views and the fact that we have always wanted to ride this way :) You can see the heat just gathering in the air above the mountains.

Skyline Drive is a lovely back road which has even lovelier views -- usually you can see clearly the towns and buildings across the valley-- today the mountains appear as a purple/blue haze.. and amost seem like clouds instead.

You can view lots of photo's and views on the farm blog . I just love these views. I have a lease pasture up on Skyline Drive - so I get to visit these sights often.

The deer flies are hungrily buzzing today with their favorite weather -- hot and humid. We want to try Susan's suggested remedy for that.. but can't find any hemlock along this road. Once we turn down onto Cook's Pond Road.. we find plenty, so we stop and snap some branches off to try. I don't know the particulars on this trick -- size and length of the branch... but so far it seems to be working.

Teasel looks so adorable in his hemlock hat.. but he does not love it. Hemlock needles are quite poky. Perhaps the branch is too big ??? Susan will have to advise us on the proper choice and usage :)

Keri on the other hand felt quite special with her headgear. She kept it on till we returned home.. Teasel ditched his hat at the river.

We spent about an hour playing in the river... Teasel found a nice spot to stand and rest while Keri and I walked up and down just exploring and splashing.

We could have remained in the river all day -- but it's time to head home.. we still have a good trot ahead of us. We decide to take the high trail.. as it's mostly shaded while the low trail is out in the open floodplains and hot.

This was a super ride -- and please visit the farm blog for lots more photos and reports of our adventure :)

Finally --- we had time to snap photo's of our outstanding prizes from the May Mini Challenge.. Denise totally out did herself with these sashes for the horses --- THANK YOU DENISE !!

The shirts are great too-- a kind of breathable fabric that is supposed to keep you cool. I wore mine one day and it did work -- but as the week progressed the heat kept mounting up day after day -- until even that miracle fiber could not work.... there was no cool to be found :) As you all know -- this challenge meant a lot to me -- as it encouraged me to truly step out of my Keri box and form a wonderful bond with OYY Fiona. I had so much fun introducing her to a new world... including our deep water trip (which was really deep !!) What a great young mount Fiona is.

Two very beautiful girls !

-- perhaps I am a bit biased.. but Fiona is such a gorgeous mare :) She looks SO pretty with her sash. Doesn't it just compliment her perfectly ?

Again if you visit the farm blog you'll see the photos I took of Elektra with her well earned ribbons from the show on July 2nd.

And also... news about the up coming First Annual Top O' The Hill Farm Curly Get Together !! I hope lots of people can attend.. as we formulate this first annual event :) A chance to meet other Curly horse owners, riders, dreamers.... and create a nice memory :)

Enjoy the day ~