Today I did it. I spent a better part of the day (and it was the better part) with my horses. Pete and I went to the trail trials and were joined by our friend Judy.

It started out as a cold, wet, miserable day. It’s hard to imagine on a sunny day that the next day will be rainy – yesterday was beautiful. Today was awful. Pete had said to dress warm. I didn’t get my gear ready until this morning and this did have consequences.

I had enough top layers but not enough bottom layers. All I had for bottom layers were my long underwear and blue nylon pants. I wore my rubber Bog boots, so my feet were okay.

Julia and Millie pulling flags at the end of the 2025 trail trial

The day started with a mini clinic, conducted by Colleen Fisk, the event organizer. She did some T-touches – I kept an open mind but there was not anything she covered that I didn’t know. The two obstacles were branches in the shape of an L that the horses had to back through, and a barrel with a flag stuck in it.

We focused on Tyra, and did some body work and then did the obstacles with her. It was hard to think because I was cold. We next did a trail trial debriefing, then saddled our horses and set out.

The rain had stopped. It remained overcast the rest of the afternoon, and it was cold, but we were spared. There was no way I’d be able to handle riding six miles in cold rain.

Pete rode Raudi, I rode Hrimmi, and Judy rode Tyra.

We had six obstacles that we had to negotiate over the course of the afternoon. The first was stop and show the obstacle judges your lead rope, knife, hoofpick, and trail map. I didn’t have any of these things. I kicked myself (rather than my horse) because I should have known better. Kick, kick, kick.

Judy and Pete had these things on them. Kick, kick, kick. The ride was quite nice, going through wooded areas, around the backsides of farms, and along gravel roads. The obstacles included going through a gate, removing a raincoat from a tree, putting it on, taking it off, and putting it back on the tree.

We also had to go through a creek bed, and lastly, come up to and stand next to a tarp with a fresh cowhide on it. I saw that hide and I thought “poor cow.”

There were ten of us and eight got ribbons. This included Pete and Judy. I did not get a ribbon.

My overall assessment is that the horses did just fine. Raudi got tired at the end, and Hrimmi actually was energized. They would have done better if, say, I’d ridden them more.

There’s an upcoming competitive trail ride, and I would like to participate, but I won’t because I am not going to have the time to get my horses in good enough shape. This just would not be fair to them. A tough call but life is full of tough calls.

156. 6/8/25: Arranging the Deck Chairs on the Titanic