2005 had so many firsts for us.  After completing our 1000 hour milestone for the APHA Ride America program in October of 2004, things quieted down when the weather turned cold and snowy.  Plus, Cora did not load reliably and I didn’t want to get stranded somewhere with her and have a fight on my hands.

We figured out trailer loading by early April.  I enlisted the help of a great friend/trainer and had her loading and standing with in an hour.  Once she figured out that the trailer was not going to hurt her, she was more than willing to step in and wait.  That opened a door that will not be shut for some time to come.  We have traveled someplace almost each weekend since then, weather permitting.

We went on our first LARGE organized ride.  A wonderful friend, Tammy Vasa with Horsetrailriders.com , put on a ride the Friday Before Mother’s Day.  There were almost 100 people there and oh what fun we had.

May came along and a group of friends found a beautiful place to ride on the Omaha Indian Reservation.  Beautiful trails along the Missouri River and bluffs.  

In June, we went on our first overnight camping trip.  Our horsetales group went to Calamus Outfitters at the end of June.  We had a nice group of about 37 people.  The first day was nice and cloudy, unfortunately, it rained that night and I ended up sleeping in the "Magic School Bus".  I had bought a tent and a friend stayed with me.  Sheila bailed too and slept the rest of the night in her truck.  The next day turned out to be nice and cloudy.  We rode for approximately 3 hours in the morning, had lunch and then rode another 3 hours that afternoon.  By the end of the ride, the sun had come out and it was getting HOT.  Another friend brought her boat along so we went tubing on Calamus Lake.

 July we celebrated a friend’s birthday with a surprise breakfast at Camp Moses Merrill.  I decorated my trailer with banners and ribbons to surprise her and it certainly did along with the horses on the way back when the banner came loose and flapped in the wind.  Both Cora and Coda did tandem spins and raced each other along the gravel road.  Robyn and I still can’t believe that we stuck on them when they spun so fast!  We didn’t discover all of the trails in Camp Moses and looked forward to spending more time there when the weather cooled down.

August found us taking some vacation days and heading down to Lincoln to ride with friends.  We went to Branched Oak for the Platte River Riders group and had a great time.  Even got Cora the “Princess” to get into the lake and walk/splash around.

September came and we went on a ladies only camping trip.  The ranch we went to is called Brush Creek Ranch near Atkinson, Ne.  The first day we were there, we did a cattle drive and moved 800 head of cattle to a different pasture.  Cora was definitely hyped on that one.  She loves to chase cows!  We rode another 3 hours that afternoon and had a wonderful evening meal.  Saturday rained in the morning, but turned out to be another excellent day of riding.  Our trail boss took us on some pretty challenging trails that I thought would kill both of us.  Cora took everything in stride and has learned to navigate down steep hills and cross creeks.  Sunday a few of us went riding off alone in the heavy fog that rolled in.  The woods were so quiet and peaceful.  We had to cross the creek a couple of times and Cora was first across on a couple of them.  We also jumped downed logs in the woods.  What fun we had.   

October found us doing another large organized ride that had some major trail obstacles.  That ride lasted around 4 hours and some of the obstacles we crossed, we would not normally do.  There were ditches that dropped 4 foot and then you had to immediately jump up the other side.  Once the ride was over, it was fun to look back at the things that we had accomplished.  Camp Moses Merrill is another favorite place to ride.  We’ve been there at least 5 times this year now and plan more in the future weather permitting.  October also saw us participating in the Wakefield Parade.  Even though it rained, it didn’t rain on our parade!  Just as it started, the sun came out and just as we got back to Sam’s, it started to sleet and rain. 

November had some abnormally warm days and I played hooky a few times and took off riding with friends.  Willow Creek by Pierce is a very nice, non challenging ride for beginning a horse.  I plan on bringing AJ there when he’s ready.

I can’t wait to see what 2006 has in store for us.