When my alarm went off at 4:30am this morning, all I could think about was how nice it would be to just lay there. But I got up (albeit at 5:00) and did all my morning chores and headed out to Lynn's. Once in the car and on my way, it was a no brainer. Up on top of Hennessey a little later, I thought "nothing could be better than this!"
Yesterday, we went across the river toward Denny with our clippers, loppers, gloves, lunch, and Buster, since Star would be too bored. It was our intention to clear brush and connect the trail into a loop. After some steep, steep hills with puffing horses who rested every six feet, we got to the steep, steep downhill. I've dreamt about this particular trail! Jupes did fine--almost brushed me off once, but behaved and got us safely down.
But when we got to the brushy site, Lynn wasn't certain it was do-able. So off she went on foot to check it out. Shirley and I couldn't see her, but we could hear her, "Ow!" and then "Ow, dang blackberry bush!" and then again, "Ow!" Finally she pulled her way back out of the 10' high bush and said, "Nope, don't think we can do it without a chainsaw." So no new loop. But at least a couple good clipping stories:
One, Lynn can run pretty fast uphill when she's tailing her big, long-legged Quarterhorse. I could hear Shirley crying out, "Vicki! Stop!" So I stopped and looked over my shoulder and saw Ziggy, riderless, stepping out his big uphill, ground-covering stride toward me--without Lynn in the saddle. We turned sideways to cut him off, but he stepped on his rein and stopped anyway. That's when I saw Lynn. Of course she's way too little to be seen over the rump of Ziggy (and it was steep), but once he turned a little, I could see her hanging on to his tail and scrambling up the trail. I guess she dropped her clippers and got off to get them and Ziggy didn't see any reason to wait for her. Well, now she knows she can stride with the best of them (or run uphill with a little help).
Two, if her head was attached. . . after we (I mean Lynn) decided that we couldn't get through the loop, she walked Zigs over to the point and we followed on our trusty mounts (of course we never even got off in the first place!) and after some grass eating (by the horses) and general view appreciating (us), Lynn got back on (again). As she walked past me (of course Jupes isn't picking his head up until he has to!) I looked back and saw her helmet on the ground. "Um, Lynn. Your helmet," I said. "Oh!" she grinned, "guess I need that." Back over to the get-on rock, get down, get the helmet, and exchange the baseball cap on her head for the helmet. Then back on the get-on rock and start again. Nope. "Lynn, your cap." There it was laying just about where the helmet had been on the ground. So back over to the get-on rock to get down, get the hat, tie it on, get back on the get-on rock and start again. It's entertainment for those of us just sitting there on our horses. (: Good thing Ziggy isn't very big.
Three, as we were climbing through the deadfall up a very steep mountain, we couldn't find the trail. So Lynn says (her usual, by the way), "Stay there. I'll go check for the trail over this rise." But Buster got nervous and Shirley got nervous and so Lynn had to get off Ziggy and walk down to Buster to lead him through some downfall. Then she had to find a good get on place and get on (again). PS Jupes did fantastic; Shirley said he only looks like a city slicker!
Four! Lynn is getting-on-ist gal I know. We stopped for lunch and Shirley got off to stretch, eat, and pee. Buster has been a bit of a problem letting Shirley get on. He wants to walk away. So Lynn got on and off him two, maybe three times, to make him stand still. She said the old standby, "There's no work in riding." Well, she got a great workout in her left thigh for sure, but um, I just sat there and watched her, so--there wasn't much work involved for me. (:
Wow! That was all just Saturday. There's more to tell for Sunday. . . stay tuned.
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