The Horse and Hound: The Weekend Before Rancho Murieta

Saying it was a great weekend is getting to sound like a broken record, but it’s true. I told Sharon that it seems that each weekend is more fun than the last.

Arriving at Todd’s started out with an amazing feat: I merged onto 101 from 156 and looked in my rear view mirror to see a green MINI. I couldn’t believe it – Sharon was directly behind me! I waved like mad
and she waved back. We had 2 miles to go to Todd’s exit and when we pulled into Equus Farms we got out of our cars and were just floored that we’d timed it so perfectly.

It was totally cool!

Todd was unavailable but Mike met us and welcomed us and caught us up on the horse news. We lunged our horses then saddled up and just as I was going to get on Blu our friends Diane and Dennis showed up. They’d really wanted to see Blu, and they really like him. It was very nice to have them there. I got on and rode him around at the walk and trot and he was absolutely an angel! It was the first time I’d ridden him without Todd riding him first, let alone that he wasn’t there to tell me how I was doing. But I think I did pretty well. We worked on bending and leg yields and speed. He wasn’t spooky at all, was taking his directions really well and overall made for a great ride. So much so that I didn’t’ even realize I wasn’t wearing my helmet until I’d been on for 20 minutes. I did have Diane get my helmet and I rode with it for the remainder of my ride, though.

Sharon and I finished up the ride by riding side by side around the arena. I’d not used the whole arena yet and wasn’t sure how Blu would do so she stayed with me. I rode first on the inside then we switched and Sharon took the inside and I rode the rail. Blu was great and didn’t have any issues. I guess I’m thinking he’s just going to be a goof since he’s so young, but he keeps proving me wrong. THANKFULLY!!!

Sharon and I spent the rest of the afternoon going through the trailer to get ready for Rancho Murieta. We basically went through everything, checked against our old checklist and organized it all. We got a short shopping list together to restock things.

We went to dinner with Diane and Dennis. We met at their house and Dennis drove us all to the Sushi Garden restaurant. We feasted on Sushi and talked for 3 hours. All of the sudden it was 10pm and we were exhausted! Time flies when you’re having fun, of course.

Sunday we did some shopping – went to Ace Hardware in Prunedale (they are very nice!) and to the “brown barn” again. We were stocking up on last minute show things. When we got back to the ranch I lunged Blu and he was calm as could be. Almost anti-climactic, but happy it is so.

We’d gotten everything accomplished that we wanted to and we felt comfortable pulling out around 4pm. I got home about 7:30 even with a stop at Pea Soup Anderson’s to take a picture of my nephew Ryan’s Flat Stanley (with the help of a kind stranger) peeking through their sign. (And yes, Flat Stanley got to ride Blu – and was safety conscious so he wore a helmet.)