There it goes. June 2024 will be over within a few hours. It went by fast. At the beginning of the month, we were preparing for a trip. We left June 5. We were on vacation for a mere 17 days. We prepared for this trip in a short amount of time. And we had no mishaps to a large part because Pete and I knew, on a day-to-day basis, what needed to be done, and did it.

We found someone to care for our garden and our chickens. And we found a temporary home for the goats. All this took considerable time and effort. My only two regrets are that we didn’t stay out longer and we didn’t do any pack trips.

One the Bench

I don’t know when our next trip might be.

The best part of all was that, yes, I have reconnected with my mares. I’m now riding at least one horse a day, and like today, sometimes two horses. I’m getting ready for the competitive trail ride. Who I will ride, and who I will ride with are up in the air, but I’m okay with this.

I’m on a rotational schedule. I am now taking either Tyra or Raudi on a long ride in the mornings, then in the evenings, riding the other one. Hrimmi hasn’t yet figured into the equation because I don’t think that I’m going to ride her in the CTR.

Raudi is the seasoned, very well-trained trail horse. And Tyra is the younger, not as seasoned trail horse. Raudi has opinions and so there has been, and always will be, an element of unpredictability. Tyra goes with the program, so there is no element of unpredictability. There are many, many Raudi stories. There are very few Tyra stories.

Today I took Raudi to Grizzly Camp, and up the hill. She’s gotten into good shape in less than two months’ time. She actually cantered up portions of the hill. And she came down the hill in a very sure-footed manner, staying away from the very deep ruts.

The only problem was that my stirrups were too short and so my cramped knees got achy. I had a choice. I could either head for home and put up with this, or I could dismount and change the stirrup length and get wet. I chose the former.

I’m glad that I’m figuring these things out now rather than during the CTR.

This evening, I rode Hrimmi. I rode Siggi’s Trail and Peaches’ Loop. I would have gone farther, but it was getting late and Pete said he’d have dinner ready when I got back. I knew that if I waited until after dinner to ride that I would not ride at all. As it was, I was tired. I woke up at 4 a.m. Had a headache. So getting going earlier was preferable to getting going later.

Tomorrow I will get Tyra out early, and if it isn’t raining, we’ll go and check out the Moose Meddows. Giddy up.

Next: 178. 71/24: Rounding up the Wild Ponies