Saturday, Dec. 28, 2013 - Ride Around the Neighborhood

Having had a busy week with family, and the horses just hanging around in the yard during mostly weather too cold to ride, we finally had a day nice enough to do a little exploring. One of my brother's next door neighbors was kind enough to drop by and leave a note on our truck inviting us to use their round pen and ride on their property, as well as to use their access to roads behind them, a very generous offer we took them up on today. My brother Jeff is here visiting from Florida, and he's been wanting to ride, so we saddled up and headed out to the neighbors. Not an exciting ride, we kept to walking and it was mostly just going around their cow pasture, but it got the horses to stretch their legs and satisfied my brother that he got a ride in. We ran into another neighbor with another 70 acres who invited us to ride on his property as well, so that expands our horizons a bit. Folks in Texas sure are friendly! Hopefully we'll have another chance to go before he leaves, weather permitting!

Sunday, Dec. 22, 2013 - Travel Day to Brother Glenn's

With just another relatively short drive today, we let ourselves sleep to about our usual time, then packed up and headed out, with the usual stops at the dump, for fuel, and a grocery stop at H.E.B. And CVS before arriving just after 2:00. Didn't take long to get settled in, with the horses on their anchors, happily munching away on the large yard. The final brother from Florida arrived by 7:30, and we had dinner and spent the evening with the family.

Saturday, Dec. 21, 2013 - Rainy Day

As promised in the forecast, more rain moved in today, so we just battened down and let it rain!

Friday, Dec. 20, 2013 - Long Ride Day at Willis Creek

Had a much better and safer ride today, doing our best to ride as many trails as possible today, since bad weather is supposed to be coming in and we may not have another chance. Under partly cloudy skies and much lighter winds, we headed east, following the lakeshore trail most of the way. We missed a trail somewhere, so we didn't get quite as close to the lake shore as the map suggested, but that was fine, as all the terrain is pretty much the same out here, wide open with the just a few copses of trees. Hubby and I resumed a riding strategy that we used to do down in Florida, I would jog and he would trot past me about 15 feet before stopping, I'd keep jogging until I reached him, at which point Clio would start trotting ahead of us, until Hubby stopped her again. That way I can work the jitters out of Apollo and let Hubby do his own speed, he hates to hold Clio back. Apollo was much better today, he seemed to have gotten used to the smells, and with a lighter wind he was almost back to sanity. I went back to the snaffle rather than the hackamore today, just to be safer, and it helped. Once we got settled down using this strategy for a while, I eventually got brave enough to try some canter, and once when Apollo started to put his head down, I was quick to pull up and throw him off balance, and the settled back down to his canter. MUCH relieved that I was able to control him today! Took a nice long ride, and stopped at a little picnic area that had hitching rails and a picnic table where we ate our snack and rested a bit. Headed back to camp on the southeastern trail, so by the time we got back to camp, we had covered almost every trail except one, just as we had hoped. A much nicer and more relaxed day, great to have a ride with a more cooperative horse!

Thursday, Dec. 19, 2013 - Work Day

Though we had originally planned on riding today, it was so windy, we decided to wait until tomorrow to take a long ride. Spent the day reading and working on my new website, release date TBA soon!

Wednesday, Dec. 18, 2013 - First Short Ride Day at Willis Creek

After breakfast, we saddled up for a short exploratory ride. Hubby attempted to try out the modified bareback saddle that I bought some time ago, but we couldn't get it to work well with the cinch he had, so rather than mess with it, he went back to his regular saddle, with plans to check it out again when we get to my brother's for Christmas. We decided on the yellow trail, which basically was mostly a perimeter around a wide open field. There was a pretty blustery wind, and lots of wildlife smells around, so Apollo was up on his toes for almost the entire ride. Shortly into the ride, he shied dramatically, and I ended of falling out of the saddle, fortunately in slow motion, so I was able to protect myself from a hard fall, or from screwing up my already screwed up knee. No real damage, so I hopped back up again and we kept going. He remained on high alert, which made it a rather tense ride. We diverted onto the green trail, a very short trail of which we only took about half of it anyway, passed a couple of other riders, and then got back on the yellow trail. About the last half mile, Apollo finally seemed to settle down a bit, so I let Hubby take the lead, and we trotted nicely, then broke into a canter. All went well for about 8 or 10 strides, I thought everything would be fine, then suddenly Apollo put his head down and popped up for no apparent reason! Usually I can hang on, but perhaps because of my weak knee, I wasn't able to stay straight, and ended up falling uncharacteristically on the off-side. This one wasn't in slow motion, but somehow I managed to break my fall enough to not land too hard, thank goodness. I can't understand why he's doing this. I had taken off the heavy saddle bags, because Hubby thought maybe they might be slapping his rump too hard, so that wasn't it. I was using the bitless bridle, and had completely given him his head, so that wasn't it. I had put the extra pad under his saddle, so that wasn't it. Either it's something completely unrelated and I haven't figured it out yet, or he just plain thinks it fun or funny for some reason. Not sure how to resolve it now, it's getting unnerving that I can't seem to find out what the problem is. If I felt a little more secure, I'd just take him out and run him for as long as I could make him run, but unfortunately, since he won't leave mama Clio, we have to deal with that dynamic, which is hard because Clio walks slower than Apollo, but trots faster. Trotting is hard with my bad knee at the moment, though a jog would work, but Clio won't stay in a slow jog, and once she passes us, all bets on Apollo's behavior are off. Well, we'll just have to keep trying until we figure it out! I thought by now, at age (almost) 18, he'd start to settle down, but as a mama's boy, I guess he'll never truly grow up! Got back to camp in just over an hour, and settled down for the rest of the day.

Tuesday, Dec. 17, 2013 - Travel Day to Willis Creek

Another short drive today, so we got up at our usual time, but then something weird happened. When I stepped out of bed, I twisted my knee, and I ended up in pain and limping the whole day. Not sure what caused that, but it feels like something shifted, and it keeps locking, so I slathered it with Biofreeze, wrapped an ice pad around it, and hoped for the best. We stopped at the dump, then stopped at the gate looking for a place to pay. The office had been closed when we came in, and we expected someone to come by sometime during the week to collect, but no one ever did. The office was still closed, so I went knocking on the camp host's trailer door, but he told me that they didn't take money, that we were supposed to make reservations through the reservation system! Well, without an iron ranger or mailbox, or any other way of paying, we scratched our heads and drove off. What else could we do? Anyway, we made a quick stop at Walmart, and Hubby picked up gas, and then we headed out to Willis Creek. Here they had an open office, and for the first time in memory, the clerk even asked to see the horses' Coggins! That hasn't happened in a long time, but I consider it a good thing. There was one other non-equestrian camped at the horse camp, which was just a wide open area with a half a dozen gravel pads. The corrals here are open and grouped together on one side, with just a few small trees, not enough to provide any shade. It didn't take long to get set up, and we settled down to our new back yard.

Monday, Dec. 16, 2013 - Gorgeous Day and Another Great Short Ride

After a morning of getting caught up on business, we decided to knock out a bunch of the little meandering trails they have "inside" the Paradise Loop. Their maps are not very clear, even though they're posted at every intersection, and we ended up missing one of them, but it was still a fabulous ride. Mostly it was through those lovely, crowded cedar tree tunnels (very spooky, but fun), with a couple of clear areas where we got in a few canters. Apollo on his best behaviour today, no leaping or jumping. I don't know if it was because he got it all out of his system yesterday, or if it was because I didn't put the saddle bags on him today, or because I added back one small extra cushion pad under his saddle, but I liked it! Think I'll have to try out each thing one at a time to see if it makes a difference, and try to narrow down the cause of his rodeo-ing. Anyway, it was a great ride, and the weather finally warmed up to the upper sixties, with a nice warm southerly breeze, just what we had expected for Texas at this time of year, but haven't really seen yet. Hopefully we've seen all the winter we're going to get! (fingers crossed!) Did a little prep work for tomorrow's departure, supposed to stay pretty warm all week, thank goodness. Next place will be a bit more primitive, but it's only for 5 nights. Getting rather spoiled with water and electric so close. Love the Army Corp of Engineers here! They've done great job! No pix today, my video camera battery died!

Sunday, Dec. 15, 2013 - Nice Long Ride and Reynolds Creek

Plotted a route that will essentially take us along the lake perimeter around most of the park, though what the map said and what my GPS plotted looked nothing like each other at the end of the day. After our usual Sunday breakfast of blueberry pancakes, we were headed out just after noon. What a great place this is for riding! Even though the "campground" is simply utilitarian, the trails are really super. The first half of the ride was more of winding through huge old trees, with an occasional short stretch of field, then along the western shore of the lake there are some wide open fields, perfect for trotting and cantering (and kicking up as well, which Apollo did more than his usual share of today!). Saw quite a few deer as well, several with quite a nice rack, as well as countless birds and other field critters. We took a break at the boat ramp, which has a nice floating dock where we had a snack, before heading back along the "Dusty Road," which was tarmac about 30 years ago, but has mostly been reclaimed by nature, so it's a pretty nice and straightforward run home. One last stretch of the beautiful and aptly named Paradise Trail before getting back to camp about 4:00. We passed a couple of bikers, and a jogger, and one couple just leaving on horseback near the bridge, and when we got back to camp, there were three other horse trailers just leaving. We certainly didn't see them on the trail, but since we took the long trail, we evidently missed them all completely, not surprising considering how convoluted the trail system is here. A thoroughly enjoyable day! We got back before Hubby's back started bothering him, so mission accomplished!

Saturday, Dec. 14, 2013 - Too Cold and Damp to Ride

Woke up to more rainy, cloudy weather, and chilly temps that weren't going to go much above 40, so we tucked in for the day, working on my soon to be released Equicamping website with the Army/Navy game in the background. Settled in for the evening as usual.

Friday, Dec. 13, 2013 - Rainy Day

Rain moved in overnight, so we woke up to the sound of thunder and rain on our roof. Had a quiet day, which helped me finish the preliminary work on my new writing project, several days ahead of schedule.

Thursday, Dec. 12, 2013 - Short Ride at Reynolds Creek

After a great night sleep, (no nearby traffic and no trains! Though the airport is just across the lake, so we did hear a few early morning takeoffs), we had a leisurely morning, getting some work done, before deciding it was warm enough (around 46) to saddle up for a short ride, just to do some exploring. What a pleasant surprise! Once we crossed the field to the concrete bridge across what I assume is Reynolds Creek, we were enveloped into a forest of mostly cedar trees about 25-40 feet tall, and the trail started to weave through them, in many places almost like a tunnel. The footing was perfect, a medium packed dirt with only a few sections of rounded rock that seemed to be put in deliberately, and one or two areas that looked like it could get muddy with rain, though there's been such a drought here in recent years, chances are it would soak right in anyway. We turned west and followed the creek, and though we didn't see any blazes on the trail (which worried me at first), at every intersection it is very well-marked with both clearly painted wooden signs, and a You Are Here placard. We had no trouble staying on track with the trail map, though in reality, compared to the actual GPS trail, the map is significantly off. As long as you follow the trail map, though, you have no problems. Plus, it's a pretty small area, and all trails on the west side eventually lead back to the bridge, so it's pretty hard to get lost. We only went out for about an hour, less than 3 miles, just to stretch the horses' legs and get us back in the saddle after 8 days. Apollo had energy, but not even close to the oat-driven madness he had earlier. This new feeding regime seems to be working, he's calmer and Clio's starting to put on some weight, really starting to look good again! We put their winter blankets on again, as it's supposed to get below freezing overnight again. Had plenty of time to have a relaxing evening, having only taken an uncharacteristically short ride today! Looking forward to the next one, though, I sure wish the weather would warm up some, at least to their seasonal norms!

Wednesday, Dec. 11, 2013 - Travel Day to Reynolds Creek

Got up just a bit earlier than usual, got packed up, headed out to the dump, which was in a separate campground, but they had given us the code for that when we first checked in, so no worries. Had stops at Tractor Supply, Walmart and Bar None for horse feed, finally arriving at camp at 3:00. No one was manning the booth, so we headed straight to the horse camp, thinking there was an iron ranger there, but there wasn't. I guess someone will come around and collect at some point, or I'll just run up and pay when the time comes. This isn't much of a campground, more like a gravel parking lot with water and electric hookups at the end of each parking spot, and a fairly large field just to the south. The pavilion was empty, as all of the picnic tables had been moved out under the trees for some reason, and a very large fire ring with a concrete sitting circle around it, so obviously this is meant to be a group camp. One nice surprise, though, was that even though the picture on Google Earth shows open corrals at the back of each parking spot, they have since had a roof put along the entire row, so that both the corrals and the spaces in between are now under cover. Glad of that, as there's some chilly rain in the forecast later in the week. Got settled in quickly, as there's not much of a challenge to finding a satellite dish over an open field, and were soon home again, home again, jiggety jig!

Tuesday, Dec. 10, 2013 - Work Day

Spent the day working on my project and doing some logistics for the next few weeks, with Hubby watching TV and reading his Kindle. Did a little prep work, but since the next horse camp is just 40 miles away, we're not too worried about getting out at the crack of dawn tomorrow. Just another regular, non-riding, non-traveling day!

Monday, Dec. 9, 2013 - Still Too Darn Cold!

After looking at the forecast, we decided to stay here through Wednesday, so we took a side trip out to the office and paid for a couple more days. We had hoped they'd have a phone we could use to send in Hubby's quarterly heart monitor report, but no such luck, so we ran out to a nearby grocery store, and they let us use their phone. We also bought some milk, as that was the only grocery item that we were running low on, and didn't want to drive all the way into town just for that. The day was still cool, but at least it was sunny, so the trip out was a nice diversion.

Sunday, Dec. 8, 2013 - Slight Warm Up Today

Temps got above freezing today, so by the end of the day, much of the snow and ice had melted, though we had to start out the day thawing the horses' spigot with hot water again, as well as the RV's spigot, as I had laundry to do today and neede to fill up the water tank. Spent the day making considerable progress on my latest book project, with Hubby watching football all afternoon. He had to thaw out the drain as well, just in case we start to hit the high mark when we're showering later this evening. Otherwise, and uneventful day, except that we made the decision to stay here at least another day or two until the ice is completely gone and our travel day is rain-free. Right now there's a slight chance of rain and a high of 37 tomorrow, not getting excited about that yet...

Saturday, Dec. 7, 2013 - Pearl Harbor Day

Woke up to temps trying to crawl out of the teens! Needless to say, the water spigot by the corral was frozen, so I took out a kettle of hot water, which did the trick nicely. Horses got extra hay last night and today to keep them warm, and moving them to dryer stalls and moving the tarps over made a big difference. They seemed comfortable enough, nice and warm under their winter blankets. Spent the day working on my project while Hubby watched college football. Days are seeming to run together now, short daylight, plus living in a virtual cave, though the fireplace does make it quite cozy. Apparently there's good insulation in our Open Range, as the gas furnace didn't come on at all overnight, and we only had the fireplace and one small space heater on! Living in long underwear these days! Suppose to be marginally warmer, at least above freezing, tomorrow, and in the 50's by Wednesday! Can't wait!

Friday, Dec. 6, 2013 - Thunder Snow and Ice Day

So, one of the reasons we decided to spend the late Fall and early winter in Texas (besides visiting family in Austin during the upcoming holidays) was that the average temperatures for December here supposed to be around 63 during the day and lows of 40's overnight. Last night, it got down in the 20s, and we had rain, sleet, ice, and by this morning, snow on the ground! We were stunned to wake up several times during the night to the sound of thunder! Can't remember ever hearing thunder when the temperatures are so cold. Have you every experiences thundersnow?? Weird. Everything was covered with a layer of ice, couldn't get the truck door open, Hubby had trouble getting the tack room door open, he needed a tool to do it. The tarps we had put up on the corral had become a solid sheet of ice, and unfortunately, the wind had blown a lot of rain into Clio's stall, so we moved here and Apollo over to drier stalls. We're not too worried about anyone else coming in to ride today... We're a bit worried about one tree that hangs directly over us that looks pretty dead, and if it gets a lot of weight on it, might come crashing down, but we're keeping our fingers crosses that doesn't happen! Highs today to stay around freezing, and more cold all weekend, with, what the NOAA calls, a "wintry mix." Not quite what we signed up for, but then again, we've been pretty fortunate with the weather mostly this year. Gotta say, though, Florida's looking mighty fine right now... : -). Too bad we decided to winter in Arizona starting in January, even there it's extra cold so far this year. Hope things improve as the winter goes on!

Thursday, Dec. 5, 2013 - Hunker Down Day

The temps, did, in fact, plummet overnight, and from the short sleeves I was wearing yesterday, today I had to bundle up in my parka to feed the horses. Brrrr! Spent the day hunkered down, mostly working on all the work that's been piling up since before Thanksgiving. Lots of computer work to do! Hubby spent the day with a heating pad on his back, and felt much better by the feeding time. The wind was quite bitter, so we took two tarps out and wrapped them over the bars on the north side of the corrals to create a windbreak, which would make it much more comfortable for the horses. Enjoyed a quiet evening in front of the fireplace, which has been going non-stop since last night.

Wednesday, Dec. 4, 2013 - Another Great Ride at McCown Valley

With temps even warmer, going up into the upper 70's, short sleeves were in order for our second ride. This time we headed south, then east, essentially skirting a peninsula of private property that juts south into the park and must be circumnavigated to get to the eastern side of the park. We weaved through trees almost the entire day, with just a few stretches in the open. The northern-most trail on the east side had a few wet and muddy spots, but nothing compared to some places we've been. We ran into Wayne again, this time riding a pretty dapple gray (yesterdays was a chestnut or bay, can't remember now), had another short chat, saw another couple riding from afar, but otherwise a nice quiet day, even when we ran into another bunch of cows! This time the horses didn't pay any attention to them at all, thank goodness. Hubby strained his back on the home stretch, and unfortunately, was in a lot of pain the last 45 minutes or so. I took the shortest route I could find, which included the one Wayne had showed us yesterday, but it took longer than we expected because we couldn't go faster than a walk or it hurt him too much. Got back to camp about 4:15, another 4+ hour, 10.5 mile trip, probably the two longest rides we've taken in a LONG time, much less back to back. I had Hubby go in side and put ice on his back while I tended to the horses. The weather forecast has changed for the worse, calling for temps dropping dramatically tonight, so no ride tomorrow anyway! Felt kind of guilty putting the winter blankets on the horses when it was still in the 60's, but I knew the temps would be in the 30's by morning, so I figured they'd forgive me. Settled down for the evening, last chance to enjoy having the windows open for a while!