3rd day

3rd day on plan.

I am doing only a few miles a day here so I can get used to my gear, used to my riding in strange places, and allow the horses to get this new routine under their belts.
This way, if I have issues with my packing, my gear, or my mental abilities I am not too far from home to fix it and head out again.   All of this is going to take some getting used to.

I am still asking for help.
I am hoping everyone is looking at this and asking all their friends and family to open their yards to me.
I am asking for.
WATER, TWO TREES, AND a place to put my tent.  That's it.  I'll deal with the rest... God willing!


Thanks to everyone reading these post.

2nd Days ride... tentative... but working on route

2nd days ride planning stages.

The above me barely getting through Asheville headed north.

This is planning day two...
If you live in this area... or know someone who does, I am asking for a little help on my trip.

Basics...
I need two trees to tie my horses for the night.
I need 60 liters of water for my horses
I need a place I can throw my tent for ONE night only.

Please be a character in this story.
sign up page here.   please respond under comments OR

email me...
Gypsyvanners@acelink.net
or
Piratesmate@acelink.net

I listen; I really do.

Last night I was returning a saddle I borrowed from a friend; in doing so he felt I was building up this trip so I couldn't back out.  (And was genuinely worried about my safety. )

He continually said I wasn't listening because I didn't change my mind about going on the trip.  What he didn't realize is... I was listening, I was taking in every word he said, I was also thinking that is probably what my Paw Paw ( Maternal grandfather, and generally the ONLY man who could tell me what to do.)  would have been saying to me.   BUT as with everything else in my life that I didn't think Paw Paw would agree with, or he clearly told me he didn't agree with, AFTER I had done it he would tell me how proud he was of me.

I know my friend is worried about my safety.

I am doing all I can to protect myself, BUT I also have to have faith in humanity that people are mostly good, and will want to help me with basics.  I can't go through life worried about every corner I turn. I never do when I am in another country,( although I listen to my gut ) why would I do it in my own country where I know for the most part people are good, loving, and giving people.  Aren't we human? Aren't

This trip has been on my mind sense I was very young.  I have always wanted to ride a horse on a LONG road trip.  It started as a kid when the wagon train would come through Joelton on their ride of the trail of tears.  When I was very young this occurred once a year, and I was always interested.   Then it became a trip from Family to family, whom are no longer with us... and I no longer live in Joelton...   SO it is still family to family, but now my house to my parents houses and old family home.

I was listening to my friend, but at some point I also have to listen to my own heart, wishes, desires, and NEEDS.  I need to do this!  I need to know I tried, I need to know I can.  Why is it because I am not so fearful I am not willing to cancel this trip I am not all of a sudden listening to GOD?   Why is it because it comes from inside of me it is not from our higher power?   When did another persons judgement become MORE than mine instead of equal to mine.  And being equal... I am the one that has to live with my choice.

I could be hurt, I could loose a horse, ANYTHING can happen.  But it can all happen just the same as I am training each day for that ride.  Life is going to happen! Question is Are Your Going to Live it? or are you going to allow others to tell you HOW to live it?


P.S. Horses got all their shots again today, paper work is good till May, and they look great! We are SET!

First days ride.  please remember I am planning ahead.  I am not leaving till January 1st 2012 !

All of this is VERY tentative... but this is my first choice, and I am very hopeful.

Please let me know if ANYONE along the END of this route is available to allow me to sleep in their yard, tie my horses between two trees, and have 60 liters of water for the night!   Please...

Sign UP page here!  register in the comment section OR personally email me at ...
Gypsyvanners@acelink.net
OR
Piratesmate@acelink.net

either will work!
This is where I start begging!  I am not asking a lot,
Water for my horses, two trees to tie them to, and a place I can pitch a two man tent.
All and ANY help is appreciated!
Amber

Today's Ride

The sun is out,  the trees are just fading, the cool wind is picking up and today my goal is another short ride up the mountain, back to the barn where I will shave Navarre for his winter riding.   I am hoping to get this all done today, but boxes await in my living room and a borrowed saddle needs to be delivered back to its owner.   So ... As this is my goal it is NOT written in stone.   I shall let the world know how the day turns out. my ride forecast.

short ride 102411

it is only  a little over 6 miles but UP and down the mountain making it a hard ride.

first three days together.

Above are the first three days of Riding.
I am doing only little rides while close to home for several reasons.

please let me know if ANYONE along this route has a friend I might get water from and sleep in their yard.

post on my sign up page ... sign up page.  ( are you going to be a character in this story )
 leave your name, comments etc in the comment section at the bottom of the page.

or send me a personal email at
gypsyvanners@acelink.net
or
Piratesmate@acelink.net

Are you going to be a character in this story?

I can only hope that we...( Meaning Me, Navarre, and Sweet Pea) can find what we need, meet good people along the way and meet new friends.

I am hoping that at some point, someone will have the gumption to join me on my ride, trailer their horse to where ever I am on the trip or just join me for the day.  This was typical in early American life, but today people are too fast paced to enjoy a slow ride with only wind, hoof clacks, and snorts from an animal aware of its surroundings.

I open this page to ANYONE who wants to join me.  I will attach it to other pages along the way.  The other pages will be short distances I hope to achieve on a daily basis.  I do plan to post the days ride and the next two or three days rides as well.

So here I am inviting the world to join me anywhere along the way.  I do not expect you to bring a tent, sleep out in the freezing cold with me.  (But a thermos might be nice ...  just a joke I don't expect anything except kindness for my horses along the way.)

Navarre

Navarre is a Gypsy Vanner.  He is 4 going on 5.  His real name is  WR Prince Navarre.  He has serious health issues everyone looking at a Vanner should know about.  I did not ... and I am paying for it dearly!

He is a different looking horse for this area.  He has beautiful eyes... light blue!

His mind is as solid as they come!   I have had this little boy up against ( meaning on the road next to ) a school bus, a dump truck, rattling large trucks everything! He flinches a little but, never freaks out about it like Sweet Pea.

He is a messy looking horse.  But thick, hairy, and solid.  American's tend to lean towards the long and lanky like Sweet Pea.  I wanted exactly what he is as my " old woman " horse.

Navarre was also a splendid gift from Jerry!  I has talked about the breed for years, took him to see one and ... that was it!   I picked parents, waited forever! and got him, then had to wait for two years before I could start to ride him.

Navarre is slow, very slow but that is what I wanted.

I enjoy everything about him EXCEPT his PPSM, EPSM or EPPSM they all spell the same thing.

NO sugar! not even grass.

This poor kid is the reason I am riding this trip in the dead of winter.  He says on a mud lot and dead grass is going to be the only time I could take him on the road.  Oh yeah... with PPSM  you also can not stall a horse, they have to be able to move around all the time.

in laymen terms it is much like being a diabetic.  except it is not the pancreas in a horse it is the muscle development and health that is effected.  Thus the reason even one week off puts my schedule back a month when training ( more to come later)  

Today's Ride

I am planning a short ride today, Navarre acts like he is not perfect, something is coming on... or so hot in his winter coat it is going to have to be cut off.

I'm taking the short HARD up hill ride today to give him a good workout but to evaluate how fast he gets too sweaty.

The Short Ride of the Day!

let me know what you think...

Sweet Pea

Sweet Pea is an American Saddlebred.  Her real name is Annies Mimosa ...She is 8 going on 9 and scared of everything (even her own shadow) unless she is in chase under saddle.

Sweet Pea was an incredible gift to me from my beloved husband.  We had been married one year, I had lost my job, he had moved me from a city I loved, stuck me in another small town, and expected me to just love it!

Sweet Pea was the only thing that helped me to survive moving from a museum filled city, with life buzzing, people at a fast pace and never seeing the same thing twice too a small town slow atmosphere where people were more green than I knew existed, and didn't need an outsider in their back yard.  I understood the feeling ( I grew up with it) but being on the dirty end of the stick... I knew it was going to suck!   And it did for YEARS!

Sweet Pea has only recently come out of her shell, she if finally turning into a horse I can ride.  She has a bad back, right hip, and her mind is never settled.  She takes an advanced rider and even then, most would just put her down.  She is not something I could ever give away, she is too dangerous.  I sit here typing with a knot in (blue and purple) my right butt cheek, as she kicked the snot out of me not long ago.

I do enjoy her, and people who are NOT real horse people think she is beautiful, and from a distance she is.  But like anything else you see the flaws the closer you get.  Scars on her back legs from a previous owner, I have no idea how they happened but they are not nice.  LONG back, will end up as a sway back in later years if I am not careful.   But with all her flaws she is my most sound horse health wise.  I only have to keep one eye on her, while the other... I can't blink!

One major positive factor about Sweet Pea is she LOVES KIDS.  She will hug almost any kid with her head.  She loves little Lily in this photo, and enjoys Grace as well.

She is a serious protector!  She loves to protect Navarre, of course it is a love hate relationship as she also causes him much pain... much of the time.

Amber.

If you don't know me, I'm your average 40 something year old.

There is nothing out of the norm about me, except I am happily married, choose NOT to have children, and enjoy living life instead of playing follow the leader.

I was raised on a farm, but I have mastered several large city lives in my day, and enjoyed them.  I am computer stupid, can't stand a lot of the gadgets of today, but... know everything has its place, and welcome change, but respect the old ways.

You will learn I am NOT a politically correct person.  I am what I am, and LOTS of people do not like it, BUT I have no issues with their choosing not to like me, my choices, or my life style.  I am all woman, but I'm all tomboy just as much.  ( that would be my father, and my Paw Paws fault! ) I choose things simple, but simple never meant easy, so some will look at me as if I am backwards.  Which again is fine!   What works for one may not work for the next.

For those of you that do know me, or think you do.. please feel free to put in your two cents worth.  I enjoy reading these things as much as I hope you will.

Tiz Life...
Amber

Setting up this new blog for the ASHEVILLE / NASHVILLE trip only

I have a daily blog where my life, emotions, and views of life go each day.

This one is going to be used for communication with the world specifically about My "little" trip to Nashville TN on horse back, from Asheville NC. 

Amber, picture taken by Emma my niece.... I just love knowing she took it!

Who... Amber, Navarre, and Sweet Pea.  Of course I am happy to have anyone accompany me who will be respectful of my horses.  After all they will be major concern on this little trip. 

Navarre or WR Prince Navarre... my pesky little 4 year old Vanner.

What ...   I am getting the pesky thing off my to do list that has been there sense I was 17.  When I graduated from High School (too many years ago to mention here) I had 10 things I wanted to do before I died.  I achieved all but one.  I quickly enjoyed the thrill of meeting a goal, tasting life by living it, and not being on the same roller coaster as everyone else my age. 

When... I am leaving my little barn in Fairview on January 1st.  

Sweet Pea my scared of her own shadow Saddlebred.
 She will be the  breaking point of this trip. 

Where... Each day will be a series of judging myself, my horses and the communities I will be riding through.  I will be having to beg for water and a yard to sleep in!  This is going to be where the real story starts.  But for now it lies with my daily rides on the horses, what it takes to get them ready.  ( don't forget I have one horse with a serious genetic issue ... so this is MAJOR for him. )   Physically, mentally, and supply wise.    After all there are no barns along the way, road side ties for the horses, I can't just trespass to allow my horses to drink water where ever they want.  This is all going to be an adventure! For me, for them, and hopefully one that will spark something in the next generation of my family.  

WHY...  Because I put it on my list, I still want to do it, and too many people WISH they had done something near the end of their life.  I do not want to be one of those people.  I want to know I lived life, did what I wanted, and enjoyed my days here.


HOW... The how is as simple as it gets.  I'm putting one foot in front of the other.  I'm just going to have to start.