Welcome Back!

So, you may have noticed I've been on hiatus.  I know, I'm a bad blogger... But, my excuse is that I moved to Virginia.  So I moved 8 months ago, who's counting?  What can I say, I got out of the habit of blogging and sure enough, it took me awhile to pick it back up.  

So, we moved to Blacksburg, VA which is in southwest Virginia for those of you who are unfamiliar.  It also happens to be home of the Virginia Tech Hokies, my alma mater.  So it is kind of like moving home, just not back in with the parents.  Chief of course came with me.  Luckily for me, I paid my rent in college by working at a horse barn.  Therefore, it was really easy to find a place to keep Chief.  He is now at Paris Mountain Stables which has a nice big arena, indoor arena, and of course plenty of trails.  

So while I have not been blogging, I have been riding as much as possible with all the rain we've had this summer.  So, without going on about all of the details, I figure I'll fill you in with pictures.  I've also discovered Instagram in this time, so you can search my pictures there with #happytrails.  American Paint Horse Association has also started a hashtag if you will and I've also been using their's, #aphaview.

Check it out!

Good Reads

So this past weekend Chief and I hit the trail, I must say though it was pretty darn cold.  That's right early spring came and slapped us in the face this weekend with lows in the 40's and highs in the 60's.  Yes, this is cold to a born and raised Southerner like myself.  So I broke out the cold weather gear for this ride.  Despite the cold, it was beautiful out, sunny with white puffy clouds, see:

Looks like it's fake doesn't it?  Well its not and I took it with my iphone!  That piece of technology never ceases to amaze me.  But that is Chief and his handsome self!  We then took to the trails and even though it was cold, the Mountain Laurel is coming out.  If you've never been to Tennessee in the spring, you are missing out.

Mountain Laurel is this pretty white flowering bush and it grows wild in Tennessee and usually covers the hillsides.  Gorgeous in the spring...

Our route this time was the New, New Trail connecting to the Workout Trail connecting to the Rocky Top Trail a.k.a. Indian Rocks down to the gravel road and back via the Creeks Trail.  All in all it was another 1 1/2 hours to add to my Ride America log with the APHA.  Not bad for a cold Sunday.

Ever since about a month ago, Chief and I have really been working on picking up the correct lead.  So every time I ask for a canter, I ask for either the left or right lead, if he picks it up correctly, he gets lots of praise.  If he gets it wrong, I slow him down to a trot and ask again, and again, until he gets it right.  Before I was using solely leg commands but I've found that turning his head to the opposite of the lead I'm asking for, he picks it up better.  So if I ask for the right lead, I turn his head to the left.  Today I stumbled upon a great article about teaching correct leads and decided it would be an easy thing to put into practice.  Check it out:http://americashorsedaily.com/lead-on/.  This comes from the American Quarter Horse Association.  My Mother-in-Law has a Quarter Horse so I follow them on Facebook as well as the APHA for lots of good articles and information.

Lastly for this week, I wanted to let you know I am going on a horse vacation later this week.  We are going to the Rolex!  By "we" I mean my husband and I, Chief and I definitely aren't ready for that yet.  But, I found a great blog post about the Rolex today too: http://eventingnation.com/home/confessions-of-a-first-time-rolex-owner.html?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=facebook&utm_campaign=confessions-of-a-first-time-rolex-owner.  I love Reggie's Rules at the end.  Chief also abides by those rules!  I typically root for Becky Holder and Courageous Comet but Rafferty's Rules and Sharon White will have to be added to the list of those to watch.  I'll be sure to share photos from this weekend's events.

Til then!

Strawberry Fields

Last week Chief and I went all over the farm.  The weather was pretty perfect so we took a good two hour trail ride.  Chief is a registered Paint Horse so we are members of the APHA and we participate in the Ride America program.  Since we started in 2008 (I think) we've got somewhere around 200 total hours.  So far this year with last week's ride we have 17 hours and 15 minutes.  That isn't too bad considering I work full time and also have school part time...  But I always want more time, maybe come July when I am done with school the hours will start racking up...  

This week we started out on the cow pasture trail.

This was the same trail we lost a shoe on, but there hasn't been much rain so it was less muddy and we made it out with all 4 shoes!  We continued on the cow pasture trail and Chief was feeling spunky.  There are some great places to canter on this trail, so we were letting loose.  As we came around a turn, I saw a new limb that was hanging over the side of the trail.  We were going pretty fast and I thought we could make it under and to the side of it... we didn't...  I clipped my knee on the branch that really didn't give.  Ouch!!  I said a few loud obscenities, but no one was around to hear.  I could feel my knee had been scraped up and I could tell it was going to bruise.  No need to roll up my jeans and inspect, just another war wound of being a rider.  We then headed back towards the creek trail but rather than go left we went right toward the Submarine trail.  I was just thinking about how lately Chief and I hadn't had any moments of where he refused to go forward.  I also realized it was because we hadn't taken a long trail in awhile.  So as we started to take the long way Chief began to refuse, but with a little encouragement from the whip, he walked right on.  Whew, no major fight today.  We then headed up the hill to the strawberry fields.  It is a little early in the season, but I thought it would be fun to go check them out and see how they are coming along.

Good news, the strawberries are coming in just fine.  I may have had to sample the product just to be sure :).  I can't wait for the Hughes family to start selling the big bushels of strawberries.  I love this time of year, fresh fruit and a little bit later fresh vegetables.  It is so much fun to buy your food right from the farmers that grew it.  I always buy from their stand right off of Highway 111.  But if you are in the area, the Hughes family is always at the Chattanooga Market on Sundays, go see them!  And the market starts tomorrow!

From here, we went down to the big pond.  I love that big pond.

It is so pretty down here and its nice and flat so there are a lot of great places to run.  So, we took a tour around the pond.

We then headed back up the hill towards the strawberry fields but took the Pumpkin Patch hill trail home.  Chief was tired at the end, but it was a great ride.  

Til next time!