ADVENTURES OF ME & G: Ride for the Cure 2010

This past Sunday began with the alarm clock going off at 6:00 a.m. UGH! We hopped out of bed, quickly dressed, ate a quick breakfast and got ready to roll. My big sister Susie came over at 7:00 and we loaded up the car and headed to the barn. Susie was excited to see a few of the horses hanging around in their runouts so early....

Barn owner's horse Tristen

G getting his breakfast in bed :)

We'd hooked the truck up to the trailer Saturday night so we could quietly roll into the farm and quietly roll out. Surprisingly G loaded up quickly and at 7:38 we were on our way to Pomfret CT, which is called "the Quiet Corner". I've actually never visited this town and hope to go back one day soon as it seemed like a lovely community. Based on the amount of BMW's, Mercedes and Lexus vehicles we saw in the center, I have a feeling its a bit of a pricey community too.

Anyhowzer, our destination was Tyrone Farm which is host to the 10th Anniversary of the Komen CT Ride for the Cure.

Breast Cancer has been an important cause to my family, as my big sister Susie who joined us today is celebrating her 10 year anniversary of being cancer free (first ovarian then breast cancer). Today we were riding to honor my sister Susie and it was special to have her with us. But kick me now cause do you think either one of us thought to ask hubby to take our picture together? Duh!

We passed the equestrian facilities where the big rigs were parked and were directed about 1/2 mile up to a large field that sits across the road from the house and barn in the picture above. About two rows of trailers came in after this picture was taken...

Getting G ready to go....all the while hubby is saying "ahhh man, he's a boy horse, poor thing"

Rider up and ready to rock 'n roll with my Glam Rockin' Tennessee Walking Horse!

While waiting our turn for the professional photographer we snapped some pics of other riders and their horses. It was so neat to see horse's and riders in all sorts of shades of pink and to see how far some would go to "pink it out". Some of the best I saw were out on the trail when I couldn't get my camera out. And then there were some that didn't have any fun with it at all. I guess I'm just a big kid!

The trails traversed meadows and fields; through Tyrone Farm's cross-country courses and through the woods in between them all.

I'm guessing it was about 10 miles in total which I covered in about 2 hours with a couple of rest stops which came equipped with porta pottys, water for horse and rider and a live lawn jockey....

G was quite high headed to start the ride, and it lasted about 15-20 minutes of continuous half halts, leg yields, one rein stops, etc. to try and get his head back on me rather than the horses out in front of him. He hates, absolutely hates to have horses out in front of him unless his head is about touching their tail. Since I won't allow that, I get to ride the prancing pony who can almost do a canter in place! I finally worked him in one of the fields doing circles until the horses disappeared from view. Once he couldn't see them any more he went back to being the relaxed horse he is when we ride alone or with one other horse. With his big walking horse stride it didn't take long until we caught up to the groups ahead of us. I asked if they would mind if we passed and no one objected which was great. We spent about an hour basically riding in the woods all by ourselves, it was absolutely beautiful and a peaceful way to spend a Sunday. I was really surprised at the amount of stone walls and foundations out in the middle of the woods. It made you wonder what it looked like back in the 1800's.

While we were standing here soaking in the quiet, I realized that no one had taken a close up picture of G in his bridle. Now that he had on his ribbon honoring my big sis I thought it would be a great time to take one. I'm know I'm biased, but isn't he handsome?

These woods were gorgeous and they led us deeper into the forest into a private hunting preserve. When we turned the corner we came upon this sign....uh oh!

Now it's a damn good thing that G does not know how to read, cause at this point if he did, he woulda lost it right then and there and he would've been galloping through the forest all the while yelling "I told ya so, I told ya those trees would eat me!"

While we were out on the trail, hubby and Susie had set up a small table up at the barn to sell bridle charms. They were supposed to be inside the barn but I didn't find out until after I got back that they stuck them and the lady selling t-shirts outside in the cold (not happy). Here's pictures they took up at the "event" barn. Events being, weddings, anniversary parties etc.

Here's our Too'Shay leather cross that Kysa made special for our ride.

This was our first time riding in this or any fund raising event, and I have to say it was not only rewarding, but a lot of fun. It doesn't hurt that it is a cause near and dear to my heart either. I love my sister Susie, the little things she does for me. Like to take a picture of this for my scrapbook :)

I was extremely pleased to have raised $625 for the event! Many wonderful people by way of monetary donations, bridle charm and other sales, exceeded my expectations. My goal was originally $500 so this was a nice bonus! The last posted dollar amount on the Susan Komen CT site was on Friday and dollar amount raised at that point was over $85,000 !! Wonderful.

And last but not least, how can a certain someone I love pass by a statue without whispering in its ear. I once asked hubby what he tells them and he said "dirty jokes to make them smile". So if you pass by a smiling statue somewhere around the globe, stop and ask if they know any dirty jokes. Hubby just may have been there before you.....