Murder Road Ride

I got an invite from Linda to go riding today. The plan was for riding in Topsham from Murder Rd. with Bonnie, Kathie, Janice, Andrea, Susie, Linda and me. I now have Friday's off work so was happy to go. Bonnie and Kathie then decided they'd like to ride from Lorax but Linda and I held out for Topsham and that is what we eventually decided on.

Linda offered to pick me up but she has picked me and Marie up a bunch of times so this time I offered to pick up Linda. Linda knows it's a bit of a process for me to trailer out now but it just made more sense for me to pick her up as she would be on my way to Topsham. I was to pick Linda up at 9:30 am.

I worked Thursday so got home at midnight and got to bed around 1 am. I set my alarm for 7 and as usual, could not fall asleep. It must have been 4 am last I looked at the clock but I was sure sleeping soundly when the alarm went off at 7 am. I dragged my butt out of bed and went out to feed Marie. She was a bit surprised by the early breakfast but sure didn't refuse it. I cleaned her paddock, fed the dog, filled a hay bag for the trailer and tossed it into my truck and drove over to my brothers and hooked up the trailer and walked back to the house. I put Marie's easyboots on her then went in the house and had a quick breakfast and grabbed a cup of coffee to go. Marie is happy theses days when she sees the saddle as she knows it means she's going to be seeing some of her horse buddies. So, I don't even have to tie her to tack her up. She walks over to the shed and just stands quietly. I led her to my brother's and loaded her up and headed out at 9 am. I was actually a bit early and was at Linda's at 9:15 am. She was ready to go so we loaded up Gus and her tack and were at Murder Rd. by 9:35 am. Kathie and Bonnie were already there so they were early also. Andrea and Janice were not able to ride after all so it was just the 4 of us.

It was a very hot humid day today.  It had reached 91 degrees by the time we finished our ride. So, Murder Rd. turned out to be a good choice as we were in the shaded woods for most all of the ride. We were out for 3.45 hrs. and did about 8 miles. We rode slow due to the heat and the horses were all fine and didn't seem to mind being out at all. Kathie's horse Baxter had a great time splashing around in the pond. We didn't see anyone else out on the trails. The people that own the house across the road from where we park always tell us to feel free to come in their yard and use their hose to water and rinse our horses off. We appreciate that so much! And so do the horses, especially since their yard is covered in such lush green grass. It was a fun ride as usual.