The trail that didn’t count but mattered more

Annual Trail Rides: 78/200

One day this week I didn't ride, but I walked with my horse, my 83 year old mother, and her little Chihuahua. Well, we walked, and my mom and the chihuahua jogged.

When I was 4 years old, my parents set up a camper near the equestrian section of the Montreal Olympics. We spent many days there, and the scenes of Princess Anne jumping cross-country are engraved in my mind. My love of horses started there. I then began the childhood incessant request for a pony, and pony lessons, and trail rides.

My parents were very casual riders, going on the occasional trail ride in scenic locations, and I have another vivid memory of me riding with the guide up front in the Colorado Rockies while my parents held their horses back so they could trot and canter to catch up.

Eventually, with all the lessons, my skills improved and horses began to be at the center of my life. I got my first horse at 18 with my own money, and then 4 more horses after that over a period of 30 years of horse ownership.

At one point I had too many horses (3 to be exact) and so somehow I convinced my mom to get serious about riding and come trail ride with me. She did, and she was my partner in crime for almost 10 years as she adopted my older mare from the age of 17 to 28. She was 65 when she started taking riding lessons for the first time. I even convinced her to come do horse shows.  She was in the kid-centric beginner class.

She is a firecracker, and walks several hours a day. And jogs too, because she always says its important to make your heart pump at least 20 minutes a day. She seeks out hills to climb.

And lately, spurred by all the Covid confinement, she has decided to book time in a recording studio and make CDs of the music she has been playing on the piano for over 75 years. Boogie woogies, ragtime, jazz, blues, and lots of classical music too. She is a fan favorite at family parties, and she even has a portable keyboard she brings just in case.

She stopped riding a few years ago, but she likes to join me at the barn and we go for a walk in our favorite woods. But of course, she doesn't walk. She runs.

I also caught up on some rides both solo and with others. A club member has painted little wooden ornaments and hung them up through the woods. We found 2 out of the 44, so we still have some work to do. Trails are great right now with the footing perfect and the absence of bugs (for now). Q is enjoying our trails, but is loving his special grazing time that comes after the trails. Since he is in dry paddocks for his turnout, this unfenced area under the power lines is where we go. His rope is dragging behind him and he is quite cute to watch navigate this snake rope when he steps on it.

We are still tacking up in the stall these days (it was a covid rule to reduce congestion in the aisles) because I like being out of the way. I think this is one of those covid inventions that might just stick.

Happy trails!