Trails at last!

It's been quite the summer, but health issues are now taken care of, so of course, it's time to trail ride! This was my first ride outside the arena since before I had my surgery, August 1st. We went to Lord's Hill between Monroe and Snohomish. You can always get a decent workout there even if you only walk. We took Danny with Monica riding and Susan came along with Capri.

We did a nice hour and a half ride, not too fast, as our horses aren't in great shape anymore (or me, either). Capri had some issues with bare feet and rocks, so we were careful about footing. But, the weather was great, the park was quiet and the grins were wide.

I know how out of shape Galen is as I had to reshim his saddle before riding him - he's lost a bunch of his topline muscle. I did notice that his gut is the same size though. I think I lost some of my 'topline' too. No problem, we'll go slow and both Danny and Galen will be ready for rides next year.

We took some photos - none are great, but that's ok. The grins are wide.

TEVIS!

Yes, you read that correctly. I am going to Tevis! Excitement, oohs and aahhss...and then, you remember that I've been out of the saddle all summer. How can I do Tevis? How can my horse be fit? Very simply. I'm not riding it.

My good friend Jas Shearer-McMahon, of Livermore CO, has just recently thrown her hat into the ring to ride Tevis. She hadn't thought it would work, but a combination of lucky events (for her), including the date change of the ride to October, made it possible. She still wasn't sure, but I pushed her into it (ok, just a little bit of hyperbole there), telling her I'd work on fundraising and come down and personally cheer her and Patrick on.

Oh, and just to make this a bit more personal, the horse she is riding, Patrickhan, is a son of my dear boy, Astrachan. She bred Patrick when she had Khano on lease quite a few years back and Patrick has proven to be a wonderful mount. He's been brought along slowly and this year the pair has several top tens and at least one BC in the very tough mountain rides they do in the Colorado area. Now, together they've never done a 100, but Jas has and she says it's a go. I believe her. I just hope that I can be that brave in a few years.

So, me and my friends Monica and Wendy (both Teke fans), are going to drive the truck and camper down to Auburn, CA in about a month and do whatever needs doing. We've had a generous offer of a place to park the camper (thank you Steve!) and I've started fundraising for Jas. If you'd like more info on THAT project, you can go to The Breeder's Co-op website, at: http://akhaltekebreeders.com/default.aspx or you can look us up on Facebook at either The Akhal-Teke Breeder's Co-op page or on the Cascade Gold Akhal-Teke page. All monies go to Jas (we're paying our own way) to help defray costs, and anything left over the target amount will be put into a competition/scholarship fund for future high-level Teke endeavors.

I do have one photo that I will post with this - a really great photo of Jas and Patrick at the Happy Jack ride this year. The photo is by Pascal Karl and I think it says it all.