You can say that it was a good day, then that’s one you won’t ever regret. 365 good days equals a good year. And ten good years equals a decade. And x number of good decades equals a good lifetime. This is what I am aiming for.

I said in previous dispatches that the only thing that I’ve been lacking is good friends to ride with. Now this is no longer a lack. Today my friends Sarah and Terri came over and we, along with Pete, rode to Grizzly Camp in order to see the fireweed in bloom. I rode Tyra, Pete rode Hrimmi, Terri rode Raudi, and Sarah rode her horse Spiffy.

It was a very chatty and informal ride that was totally uneventful. It helped that the sun was shining brightly and that it was just a little breezy. I used to be apprehensive about going riding with other people – not today. Now this is just a matter of course.

I was pleased that we came one step closer to solving Tyra’s saddle fit problem. She’s round, like a barrel, has no withers, so her saddle is like a pat of butter. (Why

Heading up to Grizzly Camp

do they call it a pat?) Last night, when Pete and I were attempting to again address the problem, I suggested that we use two rather than one crupper strap to attach to the saddle. This held the saddle in place although the pad did slip some. We think this issue is resolvable.

Terri’s riding Raudi was the completion of a circle – in 2014, when I completed a CTR, Raudi got away from me and ran back to the trailer, this was just as she was being evaluated. Thirty or so people, who were standing around, saw this happen. I was mortified, so much so that I offered to sell her to Terri. The odd thing was, I meant it. Terri is an excellent horse person, and of all the horse people I then knew, would have been the one who would be most likely to bring out the best in my spoiled little mare.

Terri simply laughed me off and said “horses will be horses. We’ve all been there.”

Today, as she is now most of the time, Raudi was rock solid. Aside from the fact that she was doing a great deal of grass grubbing, she was her now reliable self. And Terri was impressed, so much so that she said she’d like to ride her again. In a few weeks she’s going to northern California and bringing back her steady eddy horse who she left there a short while ago.

Hrimmi and Tyra also behaved quite well, going up and down Grizzly Camp Hill in a balanced fashion.

After, Sarah and I went back up to Hatcher Pass and again looked for the cell phone she lost on the day we did the Hatcher Pass ride. This time, she had a metal detector. We didn’t find it. We finally surmised that it probably fell in the road and someone picked it up. This story, it seems most fitting given that we looked high and low for it.

Yep, a really good day. Tonight I’m home alone with the dogs because Pete went to a friend’s house and is camping out there, this so he can get up early and go fishing.

204. 7/24/20: The Perils of Puppyhood