Monday May 12

Hello again. Kathy Jo, that storm was just a little too close, sorry to hear about all the shredded plants, but it's good that your buildings and livestock weren't hurt.
We have light rain here today, it is supposed to clear up a little this afternoon so I will wait to ride Breezy. This morning I got wet doing my chores, I should have been smart enough to wear my rubber boots. I've got wet horse blankets drying in the shop, spread out over lawn chairs, and leg wraps hanging from the pipes in the basement. There's a nice fire going in the woodstove so the load of people laundry will dry there.
My weekend ride was good overall, we finished the 75 mile ride in a bit over 14 hours. The day was overcast but quite pleasant until mid afternoon. At about the 50 mile mark we were at a vet check on the trail and a storm hit with lightening, rain and hail, the horses got pretty scared and I was glad we were not on them at the time. Other riders got caught in it out on the trail but I didn't hear about anyone being hurt or any horses getting away from people. The lightening was very close so the thunder claps were almost instant and very loud. We had no warning of lightening when the first one hit, SHAZZZAM!!! My horse jumped over a big rock and ran behind the small tree that I had chosen for some shelter from the wind and hail, but I was able to keep ahold of his reins. After a few minutes of the fireworks he went back to eating. I was with 2 other riders, we all got very wet and cold. The horses had good blankets over them so they were ok. We were at an old homestead where there were some large trees without leaves but I felt safer under one of the smaller evergreens. We had just climbed up and over a very big hill so I was glad to be at a lower elevation. All that moisture made the next 12 mile section of the trail very slippery so we did a lot of it at a walk, not good for getting warm in wet clothes. Back at the vet check again we blanketed the horses with the wet blankets and walked them between piles of hay to keep them and us warm while our 30 minute rest period passed with rain getting us wetter by the minute if that was possible, then headed for ride camp and the finish line. Most of the last 11 miles were sandy soil so we could go at a trot. We finished just at dark, all of our horses passed the final vet check and we had team points and individual points and miles too. The rain eased up for a while right after that so it was much more pleasant to unsaddle my horse, get him blanketed with a dry blanket, feed him and wrap his legs so he wouldn't stock up overnight. Peeling off my own wet clothes was a bit of a challenge and it felt good to get into dry clothes and go to the camper next door for some hot spaghetti and a glass of wine. I slept good until my hands started going to sleep from carpal tunnel. That is a frequent problem that I deal with by sleeping with my wrists and elbows fairly straight but it does break up by sleep since I turn over and curl up again, then wake up with hands asleep and hurting again. I could have gotten up and taken ibuprophen to deal with the inflamation but I just didn't want to get out of a warm sleeping bag. I didn't think of the pills before going to bed. Kind of tired I think.
Last evening Hubby took me out for a Mother's Day dinner. What a nice treat. The waitress said they had been really busy all day. I got some Happy Mother's day phone calls from the kids in the evening.
I hope you all have a good day, remember to count your blessings.