Sideways

Olive was a superstar on Sidesaddle Day, but she wasn't the only superstar. 

Although none of them had worn a sidesaddle previously, all five of the participating horses handled the sidesaddles like seasoned pros.

The same could not be said for the riders. We need help tacking.

We needed help mounting.

We even needed help riding.

Thankfully, Fabian was there to walk us through every step.

He was even able to help Mary Jo with her skirt.

I was tending to Olive during this time, but Mary Jo explained the process to me later.

She writes: You roll it up around your waist, mount up and then do the draping. 

There's a lot of draping!

The final result. Her mount is Linda's wonderful old man, Gambler. Like Olive, he was a real workhorse on Sunday, giving rides to Linda, Diana and Mary Jo.

No surprise, Therese's wonderful little Thunder was also a multi-person horse.

He was ridden by Therese, 

Fabian...

and me.

Because it was so hot, mostly we walked, but no one could resist asking for a few steps of gait.

He is so fun to ride.

Don't tell Olive I said this, but he might actually be the best pony.

I also rode Therese's other horse, Delilah. She was a challenge, but not because of the sidesaddle. She's just a lot of horse in the arena.

She was much better for Therese.

Good girl, Delilah!

The last horse and rider pair was Claire and Doodle.

Claire is twenty, and unlike the rest of us, she didn't need much in the way of handholding. She got on, walked a few steps, and went right to trot.

Then she asked Doodle to canter.

No fear.

Nope, none at all.

This was such a fun day.

Thank you, Fabian.

I'm so glad we were able to do that. I hope we can do it again.

Olive on the side

When you're friends with Fabian, it's not so much if your horse is going to go sidesaddle as when your horse is going to go sidesaddle.

For the last month or two, Fabian and I have been trying to schedule a Sidesaddle Day at my barn. It's been surprisingly difficult. We've both been busy, we've both been sick and then there was that whole BreyerFest thing...

In the meantime, I've been practicing.

Yesterday, the stars aligned. Fabian - and his sidesaddle collection - made an appearance at Kenlyn.

I could not wait to put one on Olive. 

So cute!

Of course, I also wanted to ride in it... If only I could figure out how to climb aboard!

Fabian gave me a little lesson.

We tried trotting.

I look like an old style Brenda Breyer with my legs all over the place, but Olive was really good. With a little bit of practice, I think we could do this for real.

After I was done, Karen,

Therese...

and Fabian all took Olive for a spin. 

She was good for olive all of them.

It was very hot, so I gave her a little break. Then it was time for the Spanish saddle.

So freaking cute.

I wanted to ride in this one, too. This time I knew how to get on.

This saddle was so comfortable. It felt like I was sitting on a pillow!

My budget Andalusian. 

All told, Olive wore two saddles and was ridden by four people in ninety plus degree heat. It was a long day, but she was willing and cheerful throughout. What a good pony.

And what a fun day! In the next post, I'll share pictures of some of the other horses and riders who participated in our Sidesaddle Day.

Sidesaddle day

Today was Sidesaddle Day. 

My friend, Fabian, brought a stack of sidesaddles to the barn. Two of them ended up on Olive.

Of course, I had to try them out.

So did Therese, Karen and Fabian.

But it wasn't just the Olive show. Thunder, Doodle, Gambler and Delilah also joined the party, along with Claire, Linda, Diana and Mary Jo.

This was so much fun!

Thank you again, Fabian. I promise I'll have more pictures to share tomorrow. 

The Tesla post

This was going to be a road trip recap post.

I planned to share photos of some of Santa Fe's better known attractions...

along with a few odds and ends that should appeal to this audience.

I was going to talk about our trip to Meow Wolf...

and the two Eldorados. 

Spoiler alert: they're not interchangeable.

But what I've come to realize is this: No one cares about any of that. All they want to talk about is the car.

I get it. This is a really cool car.

I'd ridden in it before, so I already knew it was a quiet, comfortable ride with good air conditioning and a really cool dashboard/screen.

Still, I was curious to see how it would handle the mountain passes and and what it would be like to drive an electric car through a state filled with big, empty spaces.

I shouldn't have worried.. Karen's Tesla is powerful enough to pull a loaded two horse trailer. Raton Pass was easy peasy.

Charging wasn't a problem either.

The car knows where all the Superchargers are. It tells you how many miles you are from one, and how much charge you'll need to get there. Easy peasy.

Charging times vary depending on how low the battery is and how many other cars are at the charging station. We averaged about twenty minutes per session. We stuck to actual Tesla Supercharger stations because they're the fastest, but we an electric car charging station would have worked, too.

Each charge costs about four or five dollars, which is billed to Karen's account weekly. You can go a little over three hundred ten after per charge.

I really enjoyed traveling in Karen's Tesla. In fact, my only complaint is now I want a Tesla of my own. Thanks a lot, Karen!