Sunday, August 14, 2011

Endurance Ladies

Even if this valley were going to be known as a hotbed of PNER endurance, and perhaps, per capita, it is, the more notable riders here have always been the men.

Ernie, Dean, Bob, and a rotating cast of occasional cowboy riders all hail from the valley and all ride like their shoes are on fire. I think this is a guy thing. I get competitive at rides, but there are limits. Farthest, fastest and best aren't really in my endurance vocabulary... yet.

So it is fun to be part of a slowly forming cadre of relatively low-key female endurance riders. And on Saturday, most of the group went for a nice, slow trail ride at Bennington lake.

Annie and Justin, Laurie and Otto, Heather and Bunny, me and Blue, and Sinwaan's ears. Photo by Shana.
The slowness was necessary for a couple of reasons. First and foremost, Blue's fitness level doesn't even register. He is breathless after only a few minutes of lunge work. Also, this was Bunny's first trip out into the wide world riding with a group.

Bunny was an absolute trouper the entire time. Hurray for Team Sensible! She put up with Otto's occasional bucking grumpiness and Justin's romantic attention with only the minimum of cranky mare ears. Mostly she was the lop-eared lady she always is at home. I'm really happy that Heather decided to get her!

We live in a beautiful place.


Aside from giving us a chance to chat as a group and get to know each other better, the walk also gave us time to talk about our riding plans for the rest of the year.

With Blue's rapid return to soundness, a trail ride at Elbe is again possible. Now the question comes down to money: Is it worth the fuel cost to give Blue the experience of camping and vet checks, or would this money be better spent erasing his medical costs from my credit card? Hmmmm...

I'll give it more thought while I'm riding tonight.

3 comments:

  1. HOORAY for TEAM SENSIBLE!!!!

    I hope y'all come to Elbe, just so I can pet everybody and tell them how wonderfully they're doing.

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  2. I can't believe how fast Bunny has come along. She's really something.

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  3. I love your blog. I am so glad you write one. :D

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