Ladies riding trip to Ocala

Morning exercise:

We did a run/walk on the sandy neighborhood roads in the mornings after tea. I am doing a program to re-enter the running world called “Couch to 5K”. This would be more appropriately called “Barn to 5K” or “ATV to 5K” or “desk job to 5K” because I spend very little time on the couch. But since I haven’t been running and I like to have a “program” I am using it. It comes with an avatar named Candice who (which?) is super-perky and very encouraging; she reminds me when I am half way there and tell me how well I am doing (I assuming she is ignoring the “current pace” feature of the app). I am OK with praise without actually accomplishing anything, I’ll take a trophy just for participating.

We changed up the routine one day and did our run/walk in the afternoon instead. We took treats on our walk to pacify the killer-in-their-own minds loose dogs on the way. It worked too well for one little Jack Russell Terrier who followed us about a mile down the road and back, likely hoping for more charcuterie. We finally had to knock on his owner’s door to shut him in so he didn’t follow us home. We obviously didn’t know his name so we called him Dude, which quickly turned into Dude-y, which I then turned over in my mind all possible spellings

Dudy

Dudey

Dooty

Dutie

Doody

Duty

It’s the small things that keep me going. Turns out his name was Milo.

Payne’s Prairie

First trip: After watching a lesson at Peter Atkins’s we had snacks at home and then went for a 2 hour hike at Payne’s Prairie Preserve State Park. Catherine had recommended it because of the alligators and other wildlife but we hardly saw any wildlife. We did see lovely variations of green and brown, and the footing was lovely except when we got off track and ended up in a swamp. And it is very important for me to note here, for posterity, lest anyone thinks this was a leisurely walk. LISA IS THE FASTEST HUMAN WALKER ON THIS PLANET. To be fair, I am also a pretty slow walker, but I was HAULING ASS trying to keep up with her.

Second trip: We later questioned Catherine about why we didn’t see any alligators and she said we need to go into the north entrance. Ooops. So for our second trip we went to the correct entrance. This turned out to be the mother-lode of alligators! It was a short walk, one that included a long boardwalk, and we saw all kinds of gorgeous marsh-life. Well worth it!

Silver Springs State Park

We first visited Silver Springs Tuesday afternoon just to check it out for potential kayaking, since we weren’t going to be able to kayak with manatees due to our extensive equestrian training activities. It definitely held promise so we decided to go the next day.

The next day we kayaked for 2 hours at Silver Spring State Park, a lovely park built around the silver river and it’s swamp water trails and estuaries. It was so beautiful! Along the river banks we saw a troupe of Macaques (not native to Florida), and lots of alligators and birds. We were in a two person kayak and Lisa, an experienced kayaker, was in the back. She had to give me a quick kayak lesson because the boat was super squirrely at first. I never did quite get the rhythm and technique down but my goal was just to do my part and not be THAT kayak person who makes the other rower do all the work (although it was tiring and occasionally I did wish I was that kayak person). Unfortunately, we paddled downstream first so we were just loving life until we turned around and paddled against the current. I had that sickening feeling that while I had just paddled 1 hour, I was now going to have to paddle 1.5 hours to get home, while already tired. Lisa, of course, complained not at all.

Lucinda Green clinic

Lucinda Green gave a clinic at Jon and Jennifer Holling eventing farm (Willow Run Eventing), about 45 minutes away from us. We watched the advanced group: Jon Holling, Elisa Wallace, Tik Maynard, and two others whom we did not know. We were somewhat comforted by the fact that Lucinda said much of the same things to the advanced group that we have heard in our beginner novice clinics. They did incredible jumping lines. Clearly all the participants knew Lucinda well and even seemed a little in awe of this tiny but powerful woman.  She coached each rider to the specific needs of the horse and then took the time to address the small crowd watching. 

Food, World Equestrian Center, and around the Airbnb

Food: Food was a big part of our trip. Food meaning we needed to eat a lot and quite frequently because that is what we do. Interestingly, however, we mostly had salad for dinner. We had imagined exploring the restaurants of Ocala but why leave such a lovely spot, especially when Lisa served up such delicious concoctions (with wine, of course).

World Equestrian Center: There was always a lot going on at the WEC, a gorgeous facility for all things horse. We saw marines parachuting in before a grand prix, then the grand prix, then an equitation championship preceded by the cutest lead line class ever. We might have also done some shopping. The shopping is quite good there, although a bit rich for our blood.

Around the Airbnb: I must admit that in the early part of the week, before we had any actual rides nailed down, we were antsy. We made up for this by watching horse training videos, journaling, reading the news, and doing horse related exercises.