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Sunday, June 16, 2013

dunked

I took a friend on a casual ride out to the lake. She hasn't been on the canal trail for a few months. In theory it is impassable in parts. But we like to wade in the water. You can see where this is going, right?




We had a great time trotting through the sand. We actually had not even reached the impassable part yet! We wanted to wade in the water, Major just strides right in and starts his snorkeling. We were laughing. I mentioned how when standing in water is is good to keep your feet out of the stirrups in case the horse decides to lay down.




Apparently Major understood this conversation. And wanted to test me. And laid down without warning!

Ahhh, my saddle! My phone! Get up, get up! (And get off my foot too!) Luckily he only made it partway down. I ruin all his fun. I was too busy laughing to care much. And my phone still worked, though the camera got a bit waterlogged (I figured it out and it is fixed now, yeah!).




And I got back on and made it the whole way around the impassable trail. Not impassible with a good water horse and some creative trail blazing. It was great fun.

And now we're planning to take the horses swimming. Leaving the tack and cell phone safely on shore. Anyone been swimming with their horses? What is the safest way?

(This whole ride was a nice distraction from the fact that June 21 and 22 I have a two day endurance ride and I am freaking out about two 50s. More on that later.)

17 comments:

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    1. Now I know to be a bit more careful, and maybe a waterproof cell-phone case.

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  2. At least he has a sense of humor?

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  3. Oh man, too funny! Glad you caught him in time before it all went dowwwnnn.

    Blaze and I will be at Wild West!! See you there and don't freak out! Major is in great shape and it's your home turf, you got this :)

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    1. Glad you'll be at Wild West! Now you get to see the trails. What day are you riding? Get there early, parking in nasty.

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  4. Bwahahahaha!!! We mean, oh how awful.
    ;-)

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  5. ROFL, your poor phone! I'm always so worried when I let D in the water because I don't want to soak yet another phone.

    Your horse will be just fine at Wild West! The hardest part about doing your first multiday, IMO, is whatever mental fortitude it takes to get your butt back in the saddle on the second day. You will be great!

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    1. thanks. But now where is your story woman?! Dying in anticipation here!

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    2. I'm working on it but it was an epic adventure that was a hair's breadth from being an epic disaster and I'm trying really hard to just write the content without the emotion, you know?

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    3. Yeah, I'm just nagging you. I don't think I'd be upright let alone writing. Take your time, tell the tale, and I'll distract you with silly major stories. 8-)

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  6. Hey lady, nominated you for a blog award: http://liz-stout.blogspot.com/2013/06/liebster.html

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    1. Cool and thanks! I don't have time to think about it this week, but when my brain is back I'll sure try!

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  7. Jeni and I took Sky and Zoe swimming past Granite Bay. We did this a couple of years ago. Sky was a pro, got in the water, Jeni rode in bareback (of course) and she ended up floating along side of him. She doesn't think he is actually swimming, just pushing off the bottom. Zoe, I didn't trust swimming. If she's anything like her mom, it would look like she is sinking. Skippy looks like a hippo with just her nostrils sticking out of the water. I just let Zoe roll around in about 3 feet of water. Good luck at the ride.

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  8. We swam our horses all the time in a big sandy bottomed pond in the SC sandhill/forest. We called it Clear Pond because the water was crystal clear and you could see down like 20 feet in the deepest part. It was great for swimming because it sloped in gradually on one side and then got deep. My horse loves the water. I would stop him on the "beach" and remove his saddle - just leave his bridle on & empty all my pockets ;-). Then climb back up and we would walk in. Eventually we would be in up to his back. Some horses float around like balloons, holding the air in their lungs, my horse breaths normally and so he goes in over his back, and in deep areas up to his head. When the water got too deep and I couldn't hold on - slippery horse! - I would hold his reins and swim next to him, keeping one hand on the crest of his neck to keep him out of my space. When he was ready, we would head back towards shore, and as soon as his feet hit the bottom I would slide back up on his back, and we would ride out of the pond. Once you are on the shore get off quick! They love to shake HARD when they are wet! LOL

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    1. That really sounds like fun, what a cool (damn, no pun intended) adventure!

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