Fort Ord Endurance Ride

It has been much too long since my last update. Which of course means there has been a lot going on!

I have a very sweet Fox Hog 3 year old that was gentled by my good friends at Sonrisa Stables in for 30 days of training under saddle. His wonderful owners came out to visit him and I said "jump on!". It was an absolutely perfect first ride for both of them and I still get goose bumps just thinking about it! I am so glad he has a great home but will be sad to see him go, he has been a lot of fun to work with. 

Dixie and I went to the Desert Gold AERC ride at Fort Ord this past weekend. It was our first multi day ride of 30 miles each day. Since we had been training for a few months I wanted to make sure we went slow the first day so she felt up to doing it again the next! The weather was perfect and I couldn't  have been happier with her performance.  She truly has the heart of an endurance horse. She wanted to 'go' the whole ride. The motto of endurance is "to finish is to win" and I was thrilled to see her positive and forward attitude throughout the entire ride. I managed to keep her with the middle of the pack day 1 and decided to let her ride a bit faster day 2 if she was up for it. Day 2 my wonderful friends Jennifer and Barry came in 1st and 2nd and I came in with riders 3, 4, and 5 with an overall place of 4th. Not bad for a beginner! The only unlucky part of the day was losing our EZ Boot on her hind foot the last day. This sport can get expensive quick! 

The only down side to endurance riding is there are not many photo ops! This is one from the photographers spot on the trail. 

 I am calling this "Dixie the Mule" picture :)

Lake Sonoma Ride

November 3rd marked the first endurance ride Dixie and I participated in. It was a great day, perfect weather, and beautiful trail. We rode 25 miles around Lake Sonoma and came in 6th. Dixie maintained a perfect attitude the whole ride and at each vet check got all A's and one A-. She pulsed down quicker than almost every horse that we came in with. As you can see, I ran with quite a bit as the day got hotter. It also kept my knees from getting too sore! Anthony was sweet enough to wait in this spot for 2 hours until we came through! The trail was missing a few markers and caused us (and others) to get lost which was the only bummer of the day. As my grandma used to say, that is just how the cookie crumbles! I came to the ride with two amazing riders that WON the 50 mile ride! Congrats Jenni and Bear on first and Jennifer and Stella on second! You guys are my hero's!