Hrimmi: You’re back.
Tyra: That’s right.
Raudi: Where have you been?
T: Just on the other side of town. It was a short ways from here.
H: You left in the trailer. How come you didn’t go in the trailer?
T: Pete wanted to conserve my energy.
R: For what?
T: For the competition.
H: What competition?
T: We participated in the Crevasse Kicker, a three-day competitive trail ride.
R: Oh. I took part, with Alys, in the Bald Mountain Butt Buster and the Challenge of the North Competitive Trail Rides.

Alys and Raudi and Sarah and Hrimmi at KRR CTR

H: And Alys’s friend Sarah rode me in the Knik River Ramble.
T: So you both know all about competitive trail rides.
R: Yes we do.
H: How’d you do?
T: I had a great time. I finished strong both days. And I fell in love.
R: Tell me more.
T: Well, actually Dinni, you know Dinni, Alys’s friend Terri’s horse, he fell in love with me. But he just wasn’t my type. Hard to explain. The sparks weren’t flying.
H: So who did you fall in love with?
T: A horse named Romeo. A Rocky Mountain Sport horse.
R: One of those? You really lowered your standards.
T: Oh no. He’s smart, intelligent, and moves fast with little effort.
H: And what did he think of you?
T: That I was the most beautiful mare he’d ever seen. He told me so.
R: I’m surprised you both finished the ride.
T: Well, we had plans. We talked on the second day, about ditching our riders and taking off together.
H: E-loping.
T: Yep.
R: Uhh, was this horse a stallion?
T: Nope. A gelding.
H: So you wouldn’t be able to have any foals.
T: Nope. But we agreed, having a foal would just get in the way of our future plans.
H: Which were?
T: To convince our riders to head south so we could compete on the endurance circuit.
R: And not the competitive trail ride circuit?
T: Hell no. Too much time is spent standing around and not enough time is spent on the move. Plus, the ride is timed so it’s not a race. We both agreed we’d like to move out.
H: Did Alys get wind of this plan?
T: Yes. And she just laughed when she heard it. She didn’t think that either of us was up for a serious romance. But she was wrong.
R: Sounds like bad timing to me. Here you are in a competitive trail ride and all the sudden you and another horse have designs for one another.
T: That’s right.
H: Of course nothing became of this.
T: That’s right. Romeo lives over in Meadow Lakes.
R: You could get there in just a few days.
H: This would break Alys’s heart.
T: She’d be able to spend more time with you two.
R: This is not how it works.
H: Not according to Alys.
T: Well, we will see one another next year. And time will go by fast.
R: Yes fast, very fast.

Next: 207. 7/31/24: Fishing