Spur of the Moment VHR Trip!

After last years amazing girl's trip to Von Holten Ranch (that I apparently only photo dumped and didn't actually write about), our trail group wanted to do a repeat, but schedules are hard y'all. We did finally get the first weekend in November picked, but work stuff had me and DH sort of noncommittal until the weekend before, once we nailed down a farmsitter. And we couldn't do a full weekend, just drive up on a Saturday and home on a Sunday - but we made it work! 

And I'm so glad we did!

Getting everything ready to leave was... A whooping y'all. About halfway through getting things in the trailer DH commented that this was A LOT of work for two days. And he was not wrong 🤣 we were up super late Friday grocery shopping and making sure we had everything we needed. 

But again... So worth it! 

The friend who brings her minis over to drive also has a full sized horse (lol) and since she's local and we had a slot in our trailer and she was doing the same sat/sun trip we were, we decided to trailerpool. We hit our intended departure time right on the dot and rolled into VHR a little after 10 am. 

DH got to experience their obstacle course! 

A tent went up between rides Saturday and Ruby had FEELINGS 🤣

Naturally we hit the trail right away! VHR has soooo many great trail options so we picked a longer one and had a great 2 hour ride. After the first ride it was time for lunch, then getting the horses settled in and camp all set up. DH and I were sleeping in our trailer, one other girl was doing the same, one girl's grandparents lived practically next door so she got a real bed (🤣), and everyone else tent camped. Luckily while the nights were chilly, it wasn't completely miserable for November in the Midwest! We did a much shorter loop for the second ride, and then we settled in for dinner and hanging out around the fire (and drinking, because let's be real, it was tequila o'clock by then lol). 

They both slept well! 

Her tail was fullllll of shavings lol 

The time change meant we were up with the sun and it was much earlier than anyone wanted haha

Watching DH interact with them just melts my heart ♥️♥️♥️

Ruby was really over us by Sunday morning 🤣

After a leisurely start to Sunday taking care of the horses and then cooking a feast for breakfast (DH's years of being a line cook were very useful 🤣), we tacked up and headed out again. Emmy seemed just the slightest bit stiff, so DH opted to turn back to camp almost immediately (which frankly suited him just fine, he is not as interested in trail riding as we were haha). After our group did the entire perimeter trail, DH and I took Emmy and Ruby back over to the obstacle course and she seemed much more comfortable after she stretched her legs a bit. I think she just wasn't quite fit enough for how much we did Saturday, so definitely will keep an eye on her activity levels and make sure she's more fit before heading out there again. Or take shorter trails! 

Before having to turn around. 

This hayfield was GORGEOUS and so green for November! 

Wore last years trail ride shirt lol 

Done with my shit 🤣

We ended up packing up around noon for the drive back, so that we had plenty of time to get the trailer unpacked and everything ready for work today. Annnnnnnd so begins the shittiest time of the year - when it's dark and sad when I get home from work and motivating myself to ride super sucks. But I have open invites out to a few friends to come ride with me, so hopefully they will take me up on it! Also hoping for lots of lessons this winter 🤞🤞🤞

DH heading back from the obstacle course. 

I made dumb choices 🤣

But Ruby made pretty good ones! 

Group photo! 

And out on the trail! 

♥️

This week's plans hopefully include a tack sale, possibly an off-property trail ride (since Lord knows it'll be too damn dark to ride after work), and hopefully some more lessons!