The trails behind the house past the Stark's are starting to get very grown in. Won't be long before it will be hard to get through. Not that it will matter to me I guess since I won't be riding these trails after next summer.
Sunday, August 28, 2016
Images in a Globe
I was busy most of the day but it was SUCH a lovely day that I had to get out for a quick ride this afternoon. There were only a few deer fly so that was nice. I just rode on the trails behind the house. I galloped into the Stark's yard to say hello. They said they were excited to have the Pony Express come to their house. On the way out of their yard, I caught the image in the globe.
The trails behind the house past the Stark's are starting to get very grown in. Won't be long before it will be hard to get through. Not that it will matter to me I guess since I won't be riding these trails after next summer.
And we are having quite a drought. The little stream at the bottom of the hill is completely dry and the swamp beside it has almost no water in it either. It was a short but relaxing ride.
The trails behind the house past the Stark's are starting to get very grown in. Won't be long before it will be hard to get through. Not that it will matter to me I guess since I won't be riding these trails after next summer.
Sunday, August 21, 2016
Fun With Old Trucks
So, this morning I sent a message to my friend Amy to see if she was riding. She said she could go after noon time so I decided to trailer up to ride with her. She contacted Barbara Luce to see if she wanted to join us. She was willing and able and I agreed to pick her and her mule Maybee up on the way to Amy's. This was only the 2nd time for me hauling my trailer with my new, to me, old truck. I've been plagued by breakdowns since I've had it. Starting with having to have the breaks done as soon as I got it. Then it was ball joints and sway bar links. Then it was u-joints and the rear pinion seal. So, I decided it was time to start getting out and about again.
Trailering out right now is a bit of a challenge. I can't get my trailer in where my horse is at my parents house. The trailer is at my brothers house so I have to drive over and hitch up the trailer. Walk the 1/4 mile back to my parents, get my horse, walk her the 1/4 mile to the trailer before I can head out. And because I don't want to carry everything, I saddle Marie and get her boots on at the house. Then I just have to carry bridle and helmet. When I drove over and hitched my trailer up, I noticed that two of my trailer tires were low on air. My brother came to my rescue and put air in them for me. I went back to my parents to get Marie. I groomed her, put her boots and saddle on and was carrying her bridle, my helmet, a muffin and a travel mug of coffee. That would have been fine as Marie leads nicely. But she kept twisting her head around to her side to get flies which kept jerking my arm around making my delicate balancing act a bit difficult. I managed to get back to the trailer with most of my coffee and the muffin intact. I have no square bale hay and what Marie is eating is a round bale in a slow feeder net. So, no hay for the trailer. I apologized to Marie and promised I'd buy a few bales from Amy and would make sure she had hay for the ride home. She loaded right up but gave me a few disgusted looks before I got the doors shut.
I headed out and got on the highway in Gardiner. Truck was running nicely but I started hearing this whirring noise that I'd never heard before. It would come at fairly regular intervals and make the noise for 25 to 30 seconds each time. Being only the 2nd time I've hauled, I didn't know if it was a normal sound or not though was a bit concerned about it. But, the truck was going nicely otherwise so I kept going. Barbara live just .6 miles off the interstate in Clinton so I had no trouble finding her place. She was ready and waiting when I got there. Barbara's driveway is not big enough for my trailer to turn around so I turned around in the steel company parking lot across the road from her house and then pulled across the road onto her side as there is a wide shoulder there. When I got out to help her load Maybee into my trailer, I smelled something I didn't like but couldn't decide just what it was. I walked around the truck and trailer and didn't see anything wrong so proceeded to Amy's house.
I pulled into Amy's yard and as soon as I did, the smell got VERY strong. I turned the truck off, popped the hood and got out to see what was going on. Well fuels was spraying out of my truck at the front. A LOT of fuel. I wanted to sit down and cry. Amy's husband Gary, brother in law Steven and her son Ian were all there and came over to look the situation over. It was determined that I had a cracked gas line and that I might as well just park the truck and trailer as I would not be returning home with it until the truck could be repaired. Gray told me to not worry and just go riding as we had planned. So, we loaded up Marie and Maybee into Amy's trailer and headed to Plymouth which is not far from her house.
We had a wonderful ride. The weather was great. Warm but not hot. Sunny and very breezy and very few bugs at all. Amy's brought along her puppy Riata. We rode 12 miles and were out nearly 4 hrs. Marie, Washburn and Maybee were all very good and for a while I was able to forget about my truck woes..... almost...... We rode to Jack's camp and back. It's the longest ride Marie's done in a while but she was eager and willing the whole way. She was actually a little jiggy when we started as was Maybee who led the way for most of the ride. But both settled nicely. Washburn had to pull a few moves but nothing that caused any involuntary dismounts.
Amy now had to get us all back home. It was getting late by the time we got back to Amy's house, I suggested that we just take Barbara and Maybee home and I could just spend the night at Amy's. Barbara is not that far from Amy but it is over an hour drive to my place. Amy was fine with that so I settled Marie into one of Amy's stalls and we took Barbara home. On the way back we stopped at Subway and picked up some sandwiches for supper. I bunked in Sierra's room. She had just headed off to college. The two cats weren't to sure about the whole stranger in their bedroom thing but eventually got over it and visited me in bed. When I got up the next morning, Amy had already been out and fed the horses and she cooked me breakfast much to my delight. Gary and Ian took my truck to the garage which was only 1/2 mile or do down the road thankfully. We cleaned stalls, paddock and trailer then loaded Marie up along with 5 bales of hay to tide her over until I got my truck back and could pick up round bales again, and headed out. More of an adventure than I had planned on but all people and equines were safe and sound at the end and that is all that matters.
Trailering out right now is a bit of a challenge. I can't get my trailer in where my horse is at my parents house. The trailer is at my brothers house so I have to drive over and hitch up the trailer. Walk the 1/4 mile back to my parents, get my horse, walk her the 1/4 mile to the trailer before I can head out. And because I don't want to carry everything, I saddle Marie and get her boots on at the house. Then I just have to carry bridle and helmet. When I drove over and hitched my trailer up, I noticed that two of my trailer tires were low on air. My brother came to my rescue and put air in them for me. I went back to my parents to get Marie. I groomed her, put her boots and saddle on and was carrying her bridle, my helmet, a muffin and a travel mug of coffee. That would have been fine as Marie leads nicely. But she kept twisting her head around to her side to get flies which kept jerking my arm around making my delicate balancing act a bit difficult. I managed to get back to the trailer with most of my coffee and the muffin intact. I have no square bale hay and what Marie is eating is a round bale in a slow feeder net. So, no hay for the trailer. I apologized to Marie and promised I'd buy a few bales from Amy and would make sure she had hay for the ride home. She loaded right up but gave me a few disgusted looks before I got the doors shut.
I headed out and got on the highway in Gardiner. Truck was running nicely but I started hearing this whirring noise that I'd never heard before. It would come at fairly regular intervals and make the noise for 25 to 30 seconds each time. Being only the 2nd time I've hauled, I didn't know if it was a normal sound or not though was a bit concerned about it. But, the truck was going nicely otherwise so I kept going. Barbara live just .6 miles off the interstate in Clinton so I had no trouble finding her place. She was ready and waiting when I got there. Barbara's driveway is not big enough for my trailer to turn around so I turned around in the steel company parking lot across the road from her house and then pulled across the road onto her side as there is a wide shoulder there. When I got out to help her load Maybee into my trailer, I smelled something I didn't like but couldn't decide just what it was. I walked around the truck and trailer and didn't see anything wrong so proceeded to Amy's house.
I pulled into Amy's yard and as soon as I did, the smell got VERY strong. I turned the truck off, popped the hood and got out to see what was going on. Well fuels was spraying out of my truck at the front. A LOT of fuel. I wanted to sit down and cry. Amy's husband Gary, brother in law Steven and her son Ian were all there and came over to look the situation over. It was determined that I had a cracked gas line and that I might as well just park the truck and trailer as I would not be returning home with it until the truck could be repaired. Gray told me to not worry and just go riding as we had planned. So, we loaded up Marie and Maybee into Amy's trailer and headed to Plymouth which is not far from her house.
We had a wonderful ride. The weather was great. Warm but not hot. Sunny and very breezy and very few bugs at all. Amy's brought along her puppy Riata. We rode 12 miles and were out nearly 4 hrs. Marie, Washburn and Maybee were all very good and for a while I was able to forget about my truck woes..... almost...... We rode to Jack's camp and back. It's the longest ride Marie's done in a while but she was eager and willing the whole way. She was actually a little jiggy when we started as was Maybee who led the way for most of the ride. But both settled nicely. Washburn had to pull a few moves but nothing that caused any involuntary dismounts.
Amy now had to get us all back home. It was getting late by the time we got back to Amy's house, I suggested that we just take Barbara and Maybee home and I could just spend the night at Amy's. Barbara is not that far from Amy but it is over an hour drive to my place. Amy was fine with that so I settled Marie into one of Amy's stalls and we took Barbara home. On the way back we stopped at Subway and picked up some sandwiches for supper. I bunked in Sierra's room. She had just headed off to college. The two cats weren't to sure about the whole stranger in their bedroom thing but eventually got over it and visited me in bed. When I got up the next morning, Amy had already been out and fed the horses and she cooked me breakfast much to my delight. Gary and Ian took my truck to the garage which was only 1/2 mile or do down the road thankfully. We cleaned stalls, paddock and trailer then loaded Marie up along with 5 bales of hay to tide her over until I got my truck back and could pick up round bales again, and headed out. More of an adventure than I had planned on but all people and equines were safe and sound at the end and that is all that matters.
Monday, August 15, 2016
West Gardiner
Linda called me and invited me to go riding with her. She had asked Bonnie, Kathie, Diane and Lori also. Everyone else was busy so Linda was stuck with just me. She was kind enough to pick me up and it was a work day for me so we had a limited amount of time to ride. I put Marie's boot on and saddled her up before Linda came and met her at the vacant lot near my old house so we could quickly be on our way. We went to West Gardiner to ride. I haven't ridden there in 20 years back when I belonged to the Maine Trail Riders and Marie was just 4 or 5 years old. So, I don't remember the trails at all and they have changed also. We parked at the fire station and from there the trails are very close. The trails wind around quite a bit and were very nice. We did a some trotting where we could. Marie was thrilled to see another horse. There were deer fly pestering us but not a horrible amount. It was a really lovely day. I didn't bring my phone or camera so got no pictures. It was a fairly short ride of 5.36 miles and only 1 hr. and 45 min. But, it was great to get out and ride with Linda.
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