Pictures!

So, I finally got my images from hubby's camera! Well, he finally downloaded them for me. Here are some promised images from the last summer, that go along with some of the stories I told!

First! Here are shirt images from going places with the Ride A Curly t-shirt! The first two are at stores, the last one is at an open air theatre that puts on play every 3 or 5 years, which has 400 actors and about 20+ horses and so in it, it is called the "Frankenburger Dice Game." The play is about a farmer revolt against a Earl/Count that was taxing them to the point of ruin. Sadly, the farmers lost their nerve and as punishment, the Earl came and made them dice for their lives. Neighbors were pitted against neighbors, asked to roll the dice, the looser went with the group to be hanged on the church tower. Not a very nice story, but a true one, and in honor of those who died, they make this theatre play so that people do not forget.



Here is an image from the play, this play is done on the field under a tree which marks the spot where the farmers had to dice. Horses and soldiers come over the hills rather far away, with hand held torches, it is very impressive.




On a more happy note, here are some images of riding the horses up to the mountain pasture. My friend helped me bring up the horses, and hubby walks behind with another horse on the hand and took some nice shots. I reported this a while back, I think all of this was in August.



In Fall, we have a lot of fog that comes up from the lake, here's a lovely image of the fog creeping up over the ridge.

Day 3: Cowboyin'!

This blog entry should be subtitled The Bad Parent.

On Sunday when  my 16 year-old son Ian drove me to get dog food (he has his permit and is gaining driving experience), we decided we would go riding after we got back.  We collected the horses from the pasture, and picked Nike (Ian) and AhD (me) to ride.

I helped Ian tack up Nike with my Bob Marshall treeless (Bad Parent choice #1) because it is comfortable, fits any horse, and I thought he'd like it as much as I do.  I should interject here that treeless saddles are great, but will tend to slip if you get off balance.  I used a black cordura western that I obtained in a trade with Kate, and I was happy with that choice.  I pinned my picture of Harold and Jed to my pink saddle blanket.

We discussed trails and Ian said he'd like to go do the Mineral Drive trail, a super nice one across the road that ends at a little private drive.  There are lots of good cantering spots on that trail, and Ian loves to canter now that he has had a good taste of it. (Which is why he wanted to ride Nike instead of Al, I'm sure). The problem with that was that our neighbors across the street were having a field hockey party - read 40 screaming teenage girls into this - and Ian wasn't too keen on going through their driveway to access the trails. So instead, we went straight into the trees across the road and bushwhacked our way down onto the trails. (This could very well have been Bad Parent Choice #2)

It was quite the adventure.  We round around and around, trying to find our way to cross over stone walls.  We ended up back up by our road, and then took a swampy route down the power line to a steep hill on the other side of that dratted stone wall, and entered the woods again to descend down to the trails.  AhD and Nike were troopers!!!!  My Curly is awesome at bushwhacking and led the way for Nike and Ian.  I was proud of everyone, as we slowly made our way through all the natural obstacles in our way.  I liken it to putting together a puzzle.

Once on the groomed trails, we picked up the pace.  Ian and Nike were waylaid a bit by the first tricky stream crossing because Nike thought crossing the snowmobile bridge would be easier, and Ian had to convince him otherwise.  Great job Ian!

The woods were quiet and beautiful.  We changed the tempo of the ride often, as the trail allowed.  We cantered whenever we could, and Ian was thrilled with the speed and amount of Nike's gait.  He was not as thrilled when Nike ignored his cues to walk through water on the trail, but hey, Nike is green and Ian needs to get it straight that he is the leader, not the passenger.  It's not always easy keeping your mount between your legs and headed in the right direction!  Believe you me, I know this because I live it every ride!  This is AhD's motto - Testing, testing, 1,2,3...

Rest stop at Mineral Drive

Harold, your photo is pinned to the other side of this saddle blanket

Not many photos from this ride because it was action-filled.  We wore orange, and realized afterwards, DUH, it's Sunday - there is no hunting allowed on Sundays - but we knew we would earn Brownie Points from Ian's dad for wearing orange anyway.  AhD jumped the small brook just before we landed on Mineral Drive, and Nike jumped it on the way back, giving Ian another thrill.  The ride was going GREAT!  We were having so much fun!

We made our way through the sand pit and charged up the small hill that has a water spot at the top.  Another water avoidance, but other than that, all was well and good.  We walked and  trotted up the trail all the way to the next steep hill available to charge.  Yee-haw!  My pony was on fire and flew up the hill, and apparently so was Nike because Ian said afterwards that he went from zero to gallop which surprised him. Ian was beaming and said that was the fastest he'd ever gone on a horse before.  Yee-haw!

We cantered our way from our neighbor's pond to the house, stopping on the way to say hi to Megan, who was on a four-wheeler with her friend.  Luckily, the forty screaming girls were in the house.  I made sure to keep AhD's pace nice and easy so there would be no out-of-control horses running through their yard, and this worked out great. (Good Parent Choice)

Back at the barn, we couldn't resist a one more short trip around Jason's Loop for cantering.  Now we are coming to the big Bad Parent Choice. There's a really nice place that is good for cantering between the stream and the power line.  I said to Ian, "Are you ready?" And then I let AhD rip!!!! Talk about zero to run?  My hoss can do that, and he did! We blasted up the trail, me leaned right down on his neck, and while I was excited and thrilled, at the back of my mind was...Is this smart?...so 3/4 of the way up I pulled AhD up and looked behind me to see Nike coming FAST with my treeless saddle on his side and a view of orange (Ian) on the ground. (BAD parent, bad, bad parent!)  Nike whooshed by us, obviously confused, and my fired-up Curly reacted, blowing up under me. I almost lost my seat then, but thankfully didn't because he was moving fast and it wouldn't have been good. I got him under control, while soothing  him and Nike with my voice. Nike stopped at the power line - what a good boy! - but Ah-D was WOUND. I turned him around, looking for Ian, and spotted him lying prone on the ground.  I kicked up AhD to get down there NOW, but being so sensitive, he was frightened, and when that prone orange lump started to stand up, AhD had reached his breaking point and flipped out, flying up and sideways from zero to screech.  This time I was the one hitting the ground!

I did not follow Denise's advice to go of the reins, and I was darn lucky that Ah-D didn't move forward and run me over, but he didn't, so I immediately stood up, still holding onto Ah-D and headed towards Ian.  Ian was fine, but  shook up and pissed off ("Mom!  Why do they always buck me off!") but he got over it.  I apologized to Ian, pointing out that it was totally my fault.  Apparently Nike had given one good buck at the start of his run, which didn't dump Ian, but it had put him off balance, causing the saddle to slip.  Ian chose to bale, seeing as to how he was now sideways on the horse with nowhere else to go.  He had a scary moment when he thought his foot was stuck in the stirrup (as did I, on my way out of the saddle), but thank the Good Lord above it didn't.  We collected Nike, straightened his saddle, mounted back up and headed home.  A bit more subdued. :) We did trot fast once; I didn't want Nike and AhD to get the idea that the episode had gotten them out of work.  Even if they like the work. ;)

It was my first time getting dumped from AhD!!!  Which is amazing, considering what we have been through during the last ten years.  I am not upset over it at all, and have no fear issues surrounding it - it's all hunky-dory as far as I am concerned. I know I have to work that buck out of Nike before he goes back to Terry, but I am not worried about that either.  He just didn't know any better. And Ian hasn't mentioned being sworn off of riding with me.  I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

All's well that ends well, and I hope you guys make better Parent and Horse decisions than I did on Sunday.  And, if your husband happens to mention to you with a smirk that he saw that Haflinger pass your Curly at the canter, don't store it away in the deep recesses of your mind to emerge two days later.  Learn from my mistakes! :)

Now I am wondering, Harold, did you enjoy your wild Sunday afternoon ride?

 

 

Day 2: To Buckfield via The Old Railroad Bed

There is a joke in our community that the toothbrush was invented in Buckfield, and you can tell because it is called a TOOTHbrush instead of a TEETHbrush.

All that being said, Buckfield is beautiful.  Very hilly, gorgeous views, great foliage, quaint little village.  I think the other towns around were jealous of Buckfield and felt they had to pick on it.

Buckfield is where I went on Saturday, on my AWESOME Curly AhD, with Kate on Jax and Cathy on Paco.  You have met Jax before, but not Paco, who is a Peruvian Paso x TWH - I think I got that right.  Paco is wound just about as tight as a horse can be and is extremely sensitive, and I give kudos to Cathy to the way she handles him.  She is AMAZING with him.

The day was overcast and a bit misty, but very pleasant riding weather.  The footing on the old railroad bed was much improved from last  year.  The foliage was past peak because the road goes through quite a bit of swampy area, but it was still beautiful nonetheless.

I am so glad I went on this trail.  The trail head is only 3 1/2 miles from my home, but I rarely trailer out because it is such a bother. I was on screech Saturday morning because I had given my 8 year old niece a horseback riding lesson, and really didn't have enough time to do everything I had to do to hitch up, load AhD and go get Jax and Kate.  Cathy called me, saying, "I don't think I am going to make it, just leave without me," and I replied, "Cathy, I don't even have my trailer hooked up yet!!"  Dana's motorcycle was in front of the trailer (it is so big and heavy that I can't even move it), the dividers weren't in the trailer, and I hadn't eaten yet that day - yet with Dana's help (VERY begrudging help - man was he mad at me!!), I made it to the parking lot at 11:31 am - only one minute late!  Cathy was there, but not even tacked up yet, and then Kate and I actually had to wait for her to work with Paco because he is a special case.  We were happy to wait, and even found a victim to be a photographer for us.

And then we were off!  It was a very relaxing ride, great company, easy speeds.  Paco does a running walk, but with his boots on, he was doing some other kind of gait that AhD could keep up with (at a foxtrot).  So, I was able to enjoy more foxtrotting on AhD in one ride that I ever have.

It's pretty far to Buckfield and back, maybe 10-12 miles? It took us better than three hours of riding.  We took a break at South Pond.  Who wouldn't?  It was beautiful.  The horses had no problem going in the water and viewing the scenery with us.  The reflections on the water were amazing.

At the end of the trail in Buckfield, we dismounted and let the horses rest and graze.  We found an apple tree so there were treats for the horses.

I took a kazillion pictures.  It was so beautiful, even without a clear blue sky.  

 

 

I spied a beautiful tree and made everyone pose by it.  The view down the road, framed by foliage, was quaint and peaceful. This road is extremely unusual for this area because it is FLAT.  It isn't flat anywhere else around here ; I don't know how on earth people a hundred years ago found such a great place for a railroad bed.  Hey Harold, I just realized hardly any stone walls! And, Linda V, I kept thinking how nice this road will be to drive on.

What a trip.  I enjoyed my pony's company and my friends' company and arrived home safely, tired and happy!

 

 

 

 

Part 1 - American Tour Guide

My three rides over the weekend were amazing.  Each one different, each one enjoyable and fun.  My first ride on Friday evening, was full of Firsts for my two guests Sabrina and Leah.  Sabrina and Leah are from Switzerland and Germany respectively and are farm interns at my friend Terry's.  Their time here in the US is coming to a close, and the Lord blessed us with  beautiful weather for them to go on a real Maine trail ride.

Left to right: Leah on Nike, Sabrina on Al and I think you may recognize the last team.

 

 Here we are, all tacked up and ready to go.  Sabrina is very quiet and shy and "rode for two years a couple of years ago" on a Fjord, so we matched her up with AhD's buddy Al.  Leah is 6'2" tall, is outgoing and funny and has more riding experience than  Sabrina, so we put her on the Haflinger I have been training for Terry, Nike.

Happy Sabrina on Al

And we're off!  Happy girls!

Happy Leah on Nike

I took photos of each girl with this scene as the backdrop

I had so much fun being an American Tour Guide, as Donna calls me.



The girls thought the way I set up the camera to try to get a group photo out on the trail was comical.  I took quite a few pictures of them on their Haflingers, so they would have mementos of their delightful experience out in the woods and fields of my little area of the United States.

Sabrina and Al

Leah was ready for adventure and Sabrina was game, too, so we attempted cantering and nailed it! Al is not big on going fast, but he was obliging to Sabrina, and I knew from riding Nike that he is really "into" the canter when he gets the opportunity.  And then, my Curly...well, he doesn't really like being up front of a group, yet he claims the boss position in the pasture, so he was good to go being the leader as long as I kept my confidence.

Leah on Nike



This trail has two different stream crossings and even an opportunity for stream walking.  Another first for them!

Heading home, we passed by the pond again, and I knew all our ponies would be ready and willing to canter up the long hill towards my neighbor's house.  Nike cantered and then galloped, passing Ah-D, who thought, "What??!  That little upstart passing me?  I don't think so!" but he listened to me when I asked him to stay easy and let Nike go.  We didn't need a race!  I was happy for Leah, happy with AhD, and extremely happy that both AhD and Nike behaved.  My husband Dana and my brother-in-law Larry had been standing in our driveway (talking - they were talking the whole time we were riding, so over two hours) and got a good view of the whole proceedings.  Dana asked me afterwards about the ride, and when I got to the part about coming up through the Christmas tree farm at a canter, he interjected, "Yah, we saw Nike passing AhD."  He was smirking.  Kinda made me wish I had let my pony race.  Kinda...not really. (At least that day - more on that later; I get myself into trouble when I get Cowboying, and I shouldn't have let him get to me).

Back home, Terry had not yet arrived to pick up the girls, and we were fifteen minutes ahead of schedule.  I asked the girls if they would rather untack or ride some more?  Leah responded enthusiastically, "Ride!" So we did! We did one more loop around the trail that runs behind my house, got in a couple more short faster speeds, and arrived back at the barn just in time for Terry to be there with her camera phone.  Sweet!

~Susan and Ah-D the American Guides~

 

Mission Hill Round Two

As some of you know from Facebook, for the past month I've been asking anyone and everyone to join us on a ride to Mission Hill on October 12th!  For not being a weatherman and just picking a day, we couldn't have been blessed any other way!  The temps were 65 to 70, the color was at peak up on the Hill, there were 25 riders and the company was good and all the horses behaved!  We took the same route as two weeks ago.

I have to say where we started it was blah to me and I was hoping the color would get better.  As we rode farther to the north the color did get better.  Some cantered along and then came back, some like me just hung out at the end of the line.  It was all relaxed and so many of us needed that time.

It was a busy day at Mission Hill with tourists and wanting to see the color.  As we all rode into the parking spot, mingling with the cars and people, you could tell some visitors were a little taken aback and maybe even scared, while others were in awe that we had that many riders all in one place.  One gal told me she was jealous and I asked why and she said because she wants to bring her horse here and hasn't been able to yet and then asked if I knew a certain person and I told her yes and that she was sitting over on the lawn with her husband, that she was with our group.  We ate our lunch and lounged around talking, mingling and taking in the view.

The windmills are actually in Canada

There is a very nice outhouse on Mission Hill and I had told people we could use the restroom on our break.  I was astonished, dismayed and even giggled that there was a sign on the door and it was locked because of the government shutdown.  There is no electricity and really if it had run out of toilet paper, I'm don't think it would have deterred anyone from using it if they really needed it.  Thank goodness there is alot of woods around and we're all Yoopers!

We had talked of getting a group picture and were talking about where when all the cars left the parking spot in front of the wall, so we hurried and took up the whole spot and asked a few people to take our pictures.  Unless there was panorama view on your camera we all could not fit in a picture, but here is one of most of us!

Just as we were getting ready to leave I looked down next to me and a horse had a leaf fall on his head.  He definitely was not happy about it and almost looks like he knows we're laughing at him!

Poor Smokey....this is the horse that got in the trash can about a month ago.  Notice he's not doing that this time!

We started down the road to start our loop and a car stopped that knew a few of our riders and their grandkids wanted to pet the horses, so there were horses with their heads inside the car!  What a sight!  All in all it was a beautiful day, beautiful ride, good weather, good company and three Curlies once again!  I think Denise and Laura should share their pictures too, because I was at the back of the line and didn't get many!