Tennessee

10/31/13
I rode with Dan and Kirk, my next door neighbors here. They are from Orlando. Kirk has a lab puppy…hold back the tears. We rode down to the river. The tree colors were unbelievable. The trails are manicured, mostly sand, what a contrast to the last few stops. There are some rocks and mud pools but mostly its great. I ponied Dreamy and they both seem to be feeling pretty good. They rode gaited horses and my girls kept up with no problems. Unfortunately these guys left the next day unexpectedly. So my scheduled ride the next day was cancelled.

I went into Jamestown and bought 20 bags of Nutrena Safe Choice at Tractor Supply. I’ll transition to this now since I can buy it in any state and be more consistent with their feed. I can also eliminate some of my supplements since it has a bunch of stuff in it. They had a truckload of timothy too! Bought all that would fit in the truck bed. Jason loaded the truck. He was so adorable I wanted to wrap him up and take him home for Rachel.

I then went to the laundromat for the dreaded task of that. I met a family that lives there. Their punk rock looking teenagers were actually helping them do the wash and conversing with them and me…nice folks. We talked about the area and Miley Cyrus and her dad (they’re from TN you know). Then I met a woman there who is from Houston, TX and camping at the same place as me. She is here with a big group. She invited me to ride with them the next day. We went out twice, swapping out our horses for the second ride. We rode “slow” for them, fast for quarter horses. 6 miles on Wildflower and 10 on Dreamy. I was especially amazed at how well Dreamy did. She was blowing a lot, but when offered the lead, she charged ahead. So more sore feet or legs or anything! She is so fit and I had been so worried about how this trip was messing her up. I was so wrong. She trotted and loped almost the entire 3+ hours, up and down hills, thru sucky mud holes, what ever was in her way. It was exhilarating, she is so much fun to ride!

Its Halloween today and its now pouring. I heard on the radio that Halloween was rescheduled for Monday. LOL. The wind is shaking the trailer, I feel like I’m on a boat. I spent the rainy morning in the common area (that has wi-fi) planning my next few moves and emailing possible camping places. My next stop is Kentucky where I am splurging on a cabin that has a laundry room and a hot tub!!

The rain broke in the afternoon and I ponied Dreamy for a quiet peaceful walk. At one point the trail went thru a “subdivision” with dirt roads and pristine paddocks, barns and houses. I REALLY want to live here. We went onto an empty lot of maybe 5 acres, surrounded by tall trees brilliantly colored by Fall now. It was so peaceful. THEN BAMMM…BAMMM…shot gun blasts from the woods we had to go thru to get back to camp. There were 15-25 blasts. Wildflower was quivering with fear. Dreamy was unfazed. There was no way I was going back that way and I didn’t know how else to go that wouldn’t add 5 miles to our stroll. Eventually I got in touch with camp and they sent a stock trailer out for me…this is my #3 rescue with a stock trailer. This was not my fault tho!!! “Muzzle” season began today, I wish someone had warned me. I have never heard such a loud gun blast. They were most likely target shooting since anything they would of been hunting would of been long gone or dead after the first shot. But I really wasn’t up to forcing Wildflower to endure her fear, I have often wondered if she heard the guns used at the Canadian place where she was held as a baby awaiting slaughter before she was rescued and brought to me. I am pretty sure she did now.