Scenes From Our Horse Ride

Cliff and Gambler

Cliff and his friend, Preston, host a winter horse ride every year. They call it the Gator Ride because they ride in gator country. Although, I'm not sure they have ever seen one this time of year.

Cliff and Preston like to go out a couple weeks early to check out the conditions in the Francis Marion National Forest and that's what we were doing Sunday. They like to make the ride challenging for the veteran riders that come. The thicker the forest, the snarlier the brambles, the muddier the roads, the deeper the water....the better. And, if they see a gator.....icing on the cake!

I'm not one of those die-hard riders. I would rather stay mostly in the clearings behind the camera. Preston would stay with me, for my safety, while Cliff was exploring.  Sissy and I did walk through some water up to her knees, though. She trusts me because she knows I don't want to go any where that she doesn't want to go. Ha! At least that's what I thought until she had a little freak, later.

The ride was pretty uneventful, except for the time Cliff and Hunter (Preston's friend) rode through the brambles and Preston and I rode around the outside perimeter. Sissy couldn't stand that her boyfriend, Gambler, left her. She was biting at the bits to get to him and would twirl me around in some vicious circles. But Cliff wasn't gone long and she calmed down, when she saw him and Gambler coming back. And then there was the time that Gambler saw some rusty fence wire lying off to the side of the path and did a quick side-step because who knows what he thought that was. Oh wait, and there was the 'when Sissy freaked' thing. You'll see the pictures below of the water we had been walking in all day. The water...dark and knee deep. You would think this was the creepiest of creeps, but no....we came up to a tiny stream. I'm talking about 8 inches wide, if that. The water running through it was but a trickle and couldn't have been more than a half inch deep. Yet, Sissy freaked and felt like she had to jump the 8 inch wide, half an inch deep stream or drown. Now, I wish I had a picture or video of that. Good thing I was holding on! I told Whitney about it and she said, "Yeah. she just can't wrap her head around that." Ha!

Well, there's lots of pictures to look at, so I'm going to leave you to it.....

 The Francis Marion National Forest

 Saddling up. 

(Whitney, don't look at the dreadlocks)

Cliff and Hunter clearing the brambles. Sissy was so excited!

 Cliff and Gambler trudging through knee-deep water.

 Cliff on Gambler and Hunter on Waylan. Do you see the swampy area in the background? 

 Gator country.

 Preston on Dolly and Cliff on Gambler.

After the ride, we took the horses back to the barn. Our horses are boarding at Preston's farm, temporarily. They have guineas at the farm. Aren't they interesting?

 

 From the neck up, they are as ugly as sin. But, from the neck down...... just look at that beautiful plumage. 

 Heading to the barn for some R&R and food.

 But first, a dirt bath! 

 And now, a well deserved meal.

Talk soon,

Laurie

A Day In The Forest

Awake. 5 a.m. on a Saturday morning. And nearly 12 hours later, we called it a day. A day in the forest.

Saturday, I was Cliff's personal SAG support as he ran a 60K (37.2 miles). It was a trail race through the Francis Marion National Forest.

Yep, right in there with the snakes, yellow flies, poison ivy and a couple of good ole redneck boys wondering why the heck all those people were out there running around in their neck of the woods.

Cliff had been looking forward to this race since he volunteered last year....riding the route on his mountain bike checking on the runners. When the race began Saturday morning, the temperature was in the 70's and by early afternoon had risen to 90 degrees. It was a hot one, y'all. As Cliff ran from point to point, I drove to meet him and offered him fluids or food and moral support, clean socks and dry shoes, and not the least of all.....a foot massage. I had a lot of duties. And towards the end, I was there for a quick little break for him to sit inside his air-conditioned vehicle. I spent the major part of 12 hours in his Jeep.

Finally, late that evening, Cliff received his little gold medallion showing that he is a 60k'er. I'm so proud of him! That little gold medallion represents more than that....it represents tenacity, pure grit and determination and a realized dream. God love him, Cliff has lofty goals. And just as he doesn't accept the words no or I can't from you, he doesn't accept it of himself, either.  He's gonna be sore and tired and sore and worn out for a day or so. And by the time he has recouped from this adventure, he will probably be planning his next one. In fact, I'm sure of it.

So, wanna know what I did all those hours, in addition to SAGing?

1) I started a new John Grisham book.....Gray Mountain. Grisham is probably my all time favorite author. And Sycamore Row is probably my all time favorite of his books. It was awesome. Go read it! And then let me know how you liked it.

2) I took many pictures. Some of Cliff and some of wild flowers that I've never seen before, especially in the forest and one of a yellow fly. Oh, wait........OMG! I wish I had taken one of the tick that I found on me Sunday morning......well, maybe not. We just don't want to go there, ok! It was disgusting and I freaked a little because I could not remember how people tell you to get them off without leaving their head imbedded in your skin. So, I grabbed the rubbing alcohol and a Q-tip. I began dousing him in hopes that he would suffocate or something. Nothing! The little sucker wouldn't come out.

Cliff said: Just pull him off.

I said:       I can't, I just can't! His head will stay in my skin. I might get Lyme disease!

Cliff said: I've pulled a million ticks off me. Just do it.

I said:       I can't, you do it. (And, he did! Gross!)

OMG! That creeped me out. Who knows if it's head is still under my skin. But, if in a few weeks I start complaining of not feeling well and have flu-like symptoms.....remind me of the tick! For real!

Here he comes....

.....and there he goes.

Where he stops....

(You can barely see him, but that's Cliff down at the end of the trail.)

.....nobody knows.

Wild Phlox

Rudbeckia

A little bee having a swig...

Horse Nettle

I don't know what this is, but maybe one of you do and can share it with me.

(Edited to say that I sent this to a blogger who knows about flowers and he thinks it is a Pickerelweed. They grow along ponds and in ditches, which is where I saw it. Thanks Jim of jfowlerphotography.com!)

Butterfly Milkweed

There's just so much beauty in the forest, if you take the time to look for it. But, don't wander around too long without bug spray or you'll get bit by one of these....

...a deer fly...we also call them yellow flies...

 

.....or TICKS!

 

Laurie