mimi

cover girls

/ Ashley Wingert / 1 Comment

Not too long after we started distance riding, one of Mimi’s and my ride photos was the cover page for the Long Riders Gear (now Riding Warehouse) catalog. I think it was one of the 2003 catalogs, since the photo was from 2002.

We were both babies then…Mimi was 9, I was 16. I chuckle a bit that yes, at one time, I actually started with basic black tack. (As I gaze now at my current tack hooks loaded with all things purple and orange and colorful… :))

Looking back, it makes me smile…I had us loaded down for a safari expedition with bags and packs…all for one 20-mile NATRC ride. This was only our second ride…we were both still learning. (Witness Ashley riding in paddock boots and Mimi pulling to go faster…well, at least one of us learned, since someone still likes to pull at opportune moments.)

That was the Helen Logan River Romp ride, held in Santa Ynez, CA…still one of the prettiest rides I’ve done.

I was so glad I found this the other day during my magazine sorting. All sorts of happy memories.

start as you mean to continue

/ Ashley Wingert / 4 Comments

If you follow the “start as you mean to continue” logic as applied to New Years and the rest of the year, I had a very good start. Since it was basically one long extended weekend (although I did work on Friday), I managed to actually do all of my favorite things and set myself up well for the upcoming year. (Hopefully.)

On New Year’s Day, Artemis and I day-tripped down to Catalina State Park just north of Tucson to visit with friends Lucy and Patrick, who were once again spending their holiday in the “warm” desert. Only, y’know, snow happened.

This year’s trip didn’t involve the pony or camping for me, but we had a fun day of hiking and letting the dogs play. L&P have Finn-the-poodle, whom Artemis met last year, and now they have Spike, who is Artemis’s full, 8-month-younger brother.

It was like a terrier cage match o’ fun.

“Really, Mom? Make him stop.”
This is payback, since you’re usually the one
bugging other dogs.

Snow on the Catalinas

Terrier twinsies!
(Artemis is on the left.)

First experience in the snow…and the cold-
weather wimp didn’t freeze.

Snow is a novelty.

Hiking with the dogs…a whole 3.5 miles in an
hour and half, which is what happens when half
the hike is the terriers jumping on each other.

As I mentioned already, I did work on Friday…and work in the form of boot fitting and troubleshooting on Saturday morning.

And Sunday saw the first saddle time of 2015. And it was even trail time. Mimi was having a very good day (her bad days seem to be the ones where it is cloudy, overcast, cold, and damp…as long as the sun is out, she’s good to go), and we did 4.5 miles out at Usery Mtn Park with some barn friends.
She was so happy to be out again. And so was I.
“All dressed up…do I get to go?”

my favorite view

still some dusting of snow on the Superstitions

perfect day

“*My* sloppy. *Mine.*”

And the crowning touch was this morning, when I woke up before 4AM to go out for a morning run. (Which is what you do when you live 30 minutes in any direction from the closest trails.)

Not fast…but one party was on the Injured Reserve list, and one
party (myself) was doing the first run back post head cold.
I tell myself it’s tapering for the upcoming race this weekend.

The (mostly) full moon was still up and shining (which was good since I forgot my headlamp and had to use my phone flashlight…fail), and it was so quiet and peaceful. I brought Artemis, so she could get her morning exercise, and she did wonderful…she’s really turning into a Good Trail Dog.

With that wraps my extended New Years weekend…hope everybody else had a safe, fun weekend and is looking forward to whatever 2015 brings. (Please let it be good.)

2014: That’s A Wrap

/ Ashley Wingert / 7 Comments

I so very badly want to say “and good riddance,” but any year that sees me turned into an actual trail runner can’t be all bad.

Many things certainly did not go as planned, and I’m pretty sure I spent the least amount of time in the saddle that I have since I started riding. I think if I hadn’t had the trail running, I probably would have gone absolutely out of my mind climbing the walls, but hitting the trail with my own two feet kept me (reasonably) sane.

As far as 2014 goes, it may not have gone as planned, and I may have spent far too much time dwelling on that the past few months, but looking back, it was actually pretty decent.

Got to ride Libby again. We may not have
technically completed, since we came in
overtime, but we had a good time and got in
a good training ride.
photo by Susan Kordish

Still got some pony time in. Sensing retirement is imminent, but
will still keep taking advantage of the good days when I can and
when she says she’s feeling good.

my girls

Fun times meeting with fellow bloggers at the AERC
Convention in Atlanta. 

“Answer”
And did I ever! Some riding, and lots of
running!

Lots of time with my favorite running buddy!

Another epic Tevis crewing adventure!
(That’s Artemis’s full younger brother Spike I’m holding.)

One of my best friends got married, and I was
one of her bridesmaids. This is probably the
first and last dress pic that will grace this blog.

Seeing more of the Tevis trail!

Ran a road race (15k) — as in ran the whole
thing — and didn’t die!

But these were way more fun! Ended the year with 48 race miles
total…racked up way more run miles than ride miles. *shrug*

Semi-swimming in the Salt River.
May not have ridden much, but the
times I did, it was usually pretty fun!

I’m not one to make resolutions (“inebriated declarations of good intent”), and quite honestly, I’ve thoroughly embraced the “no battle plan survives first contact with the enemy” mentality when it comes to trying to plan things out too far in advance, since it all falls apart anyway.

I’ve got my spring roughly mapped out in terms of trail runs (which you’ll find out about as they happen, lest I alert the universe to my plans and jinx myself), and it looks like I’ll probably be doing the Bumble Bee ride again…just the fun ride this time, since my saddle muscles aren’t in shape.

Beyond that, my only immediate plans are to snore in the New Year…I generally have a rule about going out on New Year’s Eve — I don’t — and have no plans to break it this year. (Currently chuckling a bit at the all-day rain forecast, and the 29* overnight temps…that’ll put a crimp in the Fiesta Bowl and block party celebrations. And it may even put out the dog-and-pony-startling fireworks. Love fireworks, but prefer to see them in a place and environment that isn’t disturbing my animals…like Disneyland.)

Hope everyone has a fun and safe New Years Eve, whatever your plans may be, and we’ll see you in 2015!

TOA Blog Hop: Shining Star

/ Ashley Wingert / 3 Comments

I’m still contemplating my 2014-in-review post, so have an easy post, courtesy of The Owls Approve Blog Hop to tide you over.

Let’s talk about the biggest achievements your horse has accomplished. I’m not talking about you as a rider – I want to know what your ponykins has done to make you proud. Is there a glorious satin collection, did he/she figure out some dressage movement that took months to learn, or are is it just a great day when your butt stays in the saddle? It’s not all about shows or the things that people see.

She’s my 50-mile endurance pony. She successfully did a sport that not many horses can do, and even fewer still within her breed. She’s definitely got “unlikely endurance candidate” stamped on her, but she still did it…200 miles worth, with three other pulls, only one of which was about her.

Above and beyond that, she completed the Man Against Horse 50-miler. I could not be any more proud of my less-than-14-hands of Go Pony than I was at the finish of that ride. She reduced me to tears as she strode proudly across that line, nearly 12 hours after we had started that morning. Didn’t matter we were the tail-end of that pack…we had conquered the trail that had thoroughly whupped up the previous year…in her mind, we had won.

As sad as I am that she’s now retired, I’m happy I was able to give her the years of endurance that I did, because that is where her heart is happiest.