It was pretty crowded but we had a nice little spot to hang out in and all of the people sharing the spot were very nice.

In 2015, before my crash, I was in a training program towards my first Half IRONMAN and we quickly bonded as a group. Again, circumstances have recently changed, I don’t muck out every day now – which is fabulous, I think I’ve probably done my quota over the years! Thursday afternoon passed quickly between setting up, registration, vetting in, and getting settled. You never know until you try, barrel saddles are very secure for trail riding and are easier to find. So please do not under any circumstances think that it's okay to replicate this type of behavior in the real world- it's not okay.

The vet asked me why it took Stitch 6 minutes to pulse down and I told him that's how long it took to pull her saddle off and for me to get a lead rope on her not how long it took to pulse down. We rode with our friend C (who did the 2nd day of our back to back ride with me) and her friend K which turned out to be a really fun group.

Perhaps not truly, I still find it quite hard to comprehend and come to accept I am just riding for fun.

We're also in the running for an AERC Rookie award (I think 2nd or 3rd place depending on who rides this month, we are done for the year in the Midwest but the south is still going) and likely 4th or 5th place in Greenbeans for our division! Chico was starting to get lazy as this was only his second LD so he's confused about having to go back out after the first loop and Major was getting tired. I didn't want to go without them since Stitch was being super buddy/buddy and clinging to Major and I was worried she would lose it if I tried to ride her away from them (not to mention heading out for the first loop I would have to ride right past him and our campsite).

For those of you who are new to us, Stitch (afore mentioned chubby Paint endurance mare) and I are competing in our first year of endurance/competitive trail rides. It happened 11 years ago, when she was spontaneously set on her Gran's front porch who at that time was inside morning the loss of her significant other, Margaret.There was a silent auction during the ride and I got a hot pink halter bridle for Stitch and I got Chico some rope reins with leather poppers on the end! We won the Specialized Saddles AERC Rookie Limited Distance Award for the year for the most LD miles done by a 1st year AERC member. I heard there was only 25 campsites so I took the day off to drive up there and hopefully get set up before the masses came. Rider's meeting was at 7:00 and just as I got up to head over I heard my phone go off (which was weird because we didn't have much signal) and I checked it to see 3 Tornado Warning notifications.