Yay!  Christmas is over.  I swear, the older I get, the bigger the hassle.  Went to FL on Christmas Eve.  Really wasn't so bad, although, I should never be allowed to travel without Bob.  Weather was nice and warm there and I felt bad having to leave my dad so soon, the day after Christmas.

Will be moving Justin to his new home on December 31.  Looking forward to that.  Just ordered him a Schneider's blanket, since they come so highly recommended.  I hope it fits.  I actually got him one an inch smaller than what he measured.  Can't imagine that'd be too much of a problem but he already measured much smaller than I would ever have figured.  He's 16.1 and Buster's lightweight 75 fit him just fine.  At his size, he should be wearing a 78.  He measured as 6'1" which translates to a 74.  That's what was in stock, so that is what I got him.  We'll see...

I think a bunch of us are also going on a trail ride on December 31.  I'm looking forward to that.  I've grown to really dig trail rides.  When you ride out in Middleburg from field to field with a little stroll thru the woods mixed in, it's really hard to not get hooked.  Nothing beats that scenery.

Terri couldn't do a lesson which actually worked out well for me because I had a bunch of stuff I needed to take care of.  After that, I headed out to Sabrina's for an 11:00 lesson.  Rode Pow-Pow.  He's sweet -- one of her babies, so he's green.  But all of her stuff is always well behaved.  We worked for a good while on the flat and then did some little jumps.  I really need practice over little jumps so that was great for me.

Afterwards, I went to visit a friend in Haymarket to see about moving Justin there.  As much as I love Welbourne and its acres and acres of scenery and serenity, I just don't think Justin is going to make it through the winter without feed and a blanket.  He doesn't look to have lost any weight but I can't really tell through all that fur.  I just know he weighs less than I would want him to weigh and I can tell he's not going in when there is rain or sleet, etc.  So, after checking out the situation in Haymarket, I am definitely going to move Justin.  He'll get to wear a blanket, he'll get fed twice a day, he'll have a stall and plenty of hay and grass.  And there are ten miles of trails around the property.  Justin and I are turning into quite the trail riders.

Next, I went to Welbourne to visit Justin one more time before the work week started.  He was hanging with his little chestnut friend and his little blind friend near all the barns.  I gave everyone pats and treats.  I groomed Justin, got him tacked up, then used my little braiding box to mount.  That thing so comes in handy.  And off we went.

I felt bad because the one that is half-blind is really, really attached to Justin.  He whinnies like a pony when we walk away.  Unlike yesterday, they didn't follow, so I really felt bad.  Because I'd have been fine to have his friends follow along.  I was proud of Justin because he crossed a little creek without any problem and then a stone bridge that he really didn't want to go across.  But with a little encouragement, he complied. 

We went out on our own, which is naughty but I figured, geez, I'd done it a million times as a kid and back then it was bareback and no helmet.  So, I figured I could survive this.  The scenery was just gorgeous.  I rode farther south than we had the day before.  Justin just tootled around on the buckle and trotted out on a long rein.  Once, we cantered up a hill.  It's so cute to look at his little ears because he is so interested in what might be out ahead.  We saw lots of deer and the most beautiful buck.  When you're horseback, the deer stand still for much longer and you can get a lot closer.  And when they run off, it isn't like they are scared, it is more like they are playing.  A few crossed out paths and would take their time to get away, jumping so high in the air, then kicking up their back ends, making arcs in the air that didn't take them very far, very fast.  They just seemed to pop away and play a little in the air.

On the way back, we had a few more visitors on the other side of the creek.   They all come up and surround you like a bunch of curious kids.  Everyone is sweet and non-aggressive.  I did have one bay who looked younger than everyone else, cop a little bit of 'tude with Justin by pinning his ears.  A gentle pop with my stick told him he better not mess with my boy and he stayed away.  Justin is always so calm when everyone surrounds him.  Most horses, I'd think, would get nervous and tense.  He just mosey's on in his adorably pleasant manner.

I was bummed that the sun was going down and it was getting colder and closer to time to go.  Back at the truck, Justin got one more grooming, lots of hugs and kisses and I dumped a big bucket of hay cubes out for him on the ground.  His friends were on the other side of the ridge and I was hoping they'd stay there long enough for Justin to not have to share his goodies. 

Soon, I will have him nice and fat again!

I'm SO happy.  I finally got to ride Justin.  Afshin trailered Tommy and Limbo over to Welbourne.  Now that I know which fields Justin hangs out in, it is easier to find him.  Oddly enough, it appears Justin finally made friends.  One is a chestnut, the other is a dark bay who is blind in one eye.  They're adorable.  Leah rode Tommy, Afshin on Limbo and of course, I rode Justin.  As we rode across the property, Justin's new friends followed us.  So, there we were, a pack of five, riding along.  I could hear the bay whinnying for Justin long after they split from our little party.

Given Justin's condition, we took it easy on the horses.  Just walked mostly.  A little trot here and there and a canter once.  Justin felt really good but I could feel he's considerably weaker and his wind is nowhere what it was.  I'm a little concerned because he coughed a lot.  Will definitely need to check that out.

It was so nice to visit with Justin and to groom him.  He's just filthy and hairy.  But I groomed him before and after the ride as best I could.  I dumped a bucket of hay cubes down for him before I left.  Thankfully, his friends were no where nearby so I'm pretty sure he'll get to hog the cubes to himself. 

Leah and I measured him for a blanket.  He measured way smaller than what we expected so I'm skeptical.  I'm going to try Buster's old lightweight turnout which is a 75 and see how that fits and then go from there.  I think I'm going to get Justin a Schneider's because I've heard such good things about them.  I've also got to get my clippers in for repair because if this new situation I'm looking into works out, I will want to clip him and blanket him. 

I think I'm going to visit him tomorrow again and take him out for another little ride.  It made me SO happy to be with him again.  And he was so mellow!  It was so nice to go riding with my friends and to tootle around on my boy.  Awesome day!

Nice weekend.  Went to a reception with Bob at Andrews AFB on Friday.  And might I say, we were quite the handsome couple.  I was thrilled to wear a dress of my mother's.  I was not so thrilled to have to have it let out an inch.  Blows my mind.  My mom's ribcage was smaller than mine but she had bigger boobs.  Mom was quite the babe.  Anyway, the dress is 35 years old and is made out of this beautiful fabric which you just can't find anymore.  Dresses of that weight can't even be found anymore.  It goes over one shoulder and is beaded on that shoulder and is full length.  It is spectacular.  I wore her full-length gloves as well.  All my friends know how I love to wear my hair up -- I wore it down for Bob.  You know how men like your hair down?  Whatever.  The drag was, he had to stay there at Andrews and I had to come back home to stay with the kids (Pippen and Sassy). 

Saturday was quite an adventure.  I went early to WalMart to get a pair of boots to wear out trekking for Justin at Welbourne.  I am thrilled with my $25 purchase.  I got these totally cool men's waterproof hiking boots.  They were so warm!  Thankfully so because I looked for Justin for HOURS before finding him.  And quite frankly, I didn't even find him.  I ran into some deer hunters who live somewhere on the property and they found him.  There he was, standing in this huge field all by himself. 

Before finding him, I'd driven all over the property.  I'd gone as far down a ravine as I could and walked the rest of the way, crossed a creek, hiked up a huge straight up hill only to search that field and two others past it to no avail.  What is really fun is having some of the resident retirees greet you as you pass thru.  Some of them are so sweet, they come forward to check you out.  I stopped and scratched and pet each one that made the effort to say hello.  I've never seen horses love to be scratched as much as these guys.  Some of them are such puppy dogs.  I've gotten to the point where I recognize several.

It was really quite nice to be so far from the road, so far off the flight pattern, so far away from everything out there.  I can't wait until the snow melts some more so I can cruise Justin around the property and check out some places I couldn't take the Explorer.  I think Justin would like a little stroll. 

One thing that was very funny; I stopped the Explorer (I call him Snowy) at a creek that I was not about to cross.  It was clear another truck had already gotten stuck and I think it was Mr. Morrison's, whose transmission was going to begin with.  The truck was abandoned on the other side of the creek.  I got across the creek on foot and went up a hill to search for Justin.  When I came back, there had to be six horses around Snowy!  I think they could smell the hay cubes I'd brought for Justin.  Mr. Morison also gives them hay cubes.  But it was so funny because they all had this, "Busted!" expression on their faces.  I gave a few some cubes and then motored on up the hill, continuing my search.

Once the hunters hooked me up with my silly loner boy, I gave him a good grooming, picked funky stuff out of his coat here and there, inspected a minor boo-boo on his ankle, picked his feet, pulled burrs out of his forelock and gave him kisses and a pile of hay cubes.  As worried as I am about him just free-wheeling out there, he looked very good.  All the horses are fat as hogs there.  And, as much of a freak as I am about Justin's weight, he actually kinda looked like he gained some.  His coat definitely looks thicker which makes me feel a little better.  Anyway, he was thrilled with his hay cubes.  All of his poop piles looked great so all that grass, albeit not as rich as it will be in the summer, is doing him plenty of good.  I gave him one last hug and headed home.

Back at home, I cleaned our garage.  It was just getting out of control.  I've been parking Snowy in there next to his tractor friend, Mr. Deere, but I'd also just shoved stuff over to the other side to do it.  I bagged up all the clothes left over from the benefit yard sale I'd done with my girlfriend Kimberley in...um...April, and took the clothes to The White Elephant in Middleburg.  They took up four bags.  Anyway, it looks fab now.

Today, Sunday, I had a lesson with my girlfriend, Terri who runs Clairvaux out of Beacon Hill Equestrian Center in Leesburg.  I can't say I liked my ride.  I've gotten really poopy on so many things.  I just really need to ride more and get back into practice.  Terri is so nice and so patient and I really like riding with her.  She was nice and went easy on me and I ended up unscathed.  Got to see Alyssa, who was working today and her friend Emma, who was the photographer on all of the good pictures on my site of Alyssa jumping. 

Afterwards, I went to ride with Afshin and a friend of his, Kelly.  She lives in the same neighborhood where he keeps his horses so she walked her horse over to Afshin's place and we trailered over to Foxcroft.  Seems like everyone had the same idea about going there to use the indoor.  There were several trailers when we arrived.  But by the time we got to the indoor, others seemed to be wrapping up and we were sharing the ring with three other people.  Not bad.  I rode Tom-Tom.  He was a good boy.  He's a little out of shape so I couldn't do a ton but then again, so am I.  I jumped some little jumps which he just steps over because he is so big.  It was fun.  I'm really enjoying my horsey weekends.  I can't wait for the snow to go away.  Even if I can really only walk Justin and lightly trot him, I really enjoy riding him and I love his personality.  I'm looking forward to spending some time with him riding out.

Time for beddy bye!