Author: Sandy Gorman
It wasn’t that bad, the weather. No storms. No minus zero temperatures. No driving rain. It actually wasn’t the weather’s fault. Numbers were down again, but people have plenty going on… but there’s not many things that top a club weekend! June was no exception to a Top Weekend. I finished work and arrived Friday afternoon. Not to ride (yeah, buggered!), but to get in, light the fire and warm the place up a little. Place warm, Lee and her guest Cath arrived (and I actually had a few hours to do last month’s Blogs!). Us girls enjoyed a cosy night by the fire with a few drinks before heading to bed to get some much needed sleep.
Saturday was chilly; nothing like a refreshing morning to rev up for a ride. Lee and Cath weren’t planning on doing the big ride, so could sleep in until they were ready to wander down to The General for brunch. Clare and Murray weren’t planning on arriving until later – although a little later than expected so missed the afternoon ride and just played with ponies before dinner prep. Kylie had also elected to arrive for dinner to ride Sunday only.
Just Brian and me left to ride the planned route up McNallys Road to Horans Track, across Murchison’s Gap and through to Sailor Jack Track, down !*?? hill and back to the club house via Falls Road. Although not wet, it did look like it may rain, so Brian packed his wet weathers, I wore mine (just haven’t managed to get the driz-a-bone as secure as I’d like on the back of my saddle; packing’s not a strong point!). We headed off around 11, and figured the timing may actually work to run into Lee & Cath as their planned trek was to the Village Green- it may work to catch them on Falls Road.
Not too many people were out and about, not much passing traffic. We enjoyed a leisurely ride up McNally’s road. We did have a small water crossing just before the big hill – with water across the road. While Brian mentioned he’s not seen that before – I guess it depends on if we’ve actually ridden this track this time of year before just after the rains. As we rode higher and got the views from the peaks around Horans Track, there was actually plenty of water to see. Anything that resembled a creek had water. It wasn’t a silly choice to take the ride on main tracks as anything grassy would have been very slippy. We ate on the road (if Brian doesn’t pack lunch it’s not often we actually stop and eat!), I’d packed a sanga and a few muesli bars for my pony, so Brian ate one of those much to Idaho’s chagrin.
Over onto Murchison Spur Road and time for some long canters. Another quick lesson to keep my pony in the lope, but not rushing or breaking gait back to the trot. The road was endless and it was probably here I realised Brian had no hearing aids in due to the misty weather and couldn’t hear cars approaching from behind. Sometimes it’s just like having another child, having Brian on the ride!!
Sailor Jack track was just as fun as it always is. There were a few logs that Brian sent me off to jump … I’d shared a video of me at Pony Club cross country where I inelegantly dismounted after a jump, so Brian figured I needed the practice! Apparently the logs and my usual saddle weren’t an issue and we safely navigated the jumps. Winning.
As always, the top of !*?? Hill shows the start of the descent that once had me quaking in my boots. I think I prefer this track in the wet. When dry, it’s quite shaly rock and seems slipperier than if it’s wet. We wasted no time descending – our horses certainly have no fear of steep hills and navigate their way down easily. Out the gate and onto Falls Road we checked the time and figured we would be very close to running into Lee and Cath. They’d rung at the top of the hill to check on which gate to leave the Village Green from so we knew they’d be close. As we reached the bottom end of their track out onto Falls Road I could hear the clink of the gate and laughter. Brian probably didn’t hear a thing. If we’d organised to meet them, we couldn’t have timed it as well as we did. The girls had had a great ride and were in high spirits. We rode a short way up Falls road with them before going on ahead (well, we had just asked Kaye to throw some party pies in the oven ready for our return and were looking forward to a hot snack… if we’d dilly-dallied they may be burnt!)
I think that ride was around the 27 klm mark, and we had a ball. We got back, attended the horses and attacked the party pies. Lee and Cath weren’t far behind, although had stopped to attend to Thelma as she had an issue with her rug (Thelma’s a horse!)
Clare & Murray had arrived by the time we returned, followed by Kylie. Martin had come to join us for dinner and we all enjoyed Murray’s Cottage Pie. Delish, Murray! Another lovely evening in front of the fire (how cosy is the clubhouse!)
Sunday morning looked good for riding. After a relaxed breakfast (Clare and Murray are a TEAM in the kitchen .. as much as in life I guess!) we started to organise ourselves for the ride to Flowerdale Estate. Brian is still recovering from his accident a few weeks ago, so after yesterday’s big ride decided to take it easy and bowed out for Sunday’s ride. After some discussion, Clare & Murray decided to concentrate on cleaning duties and head home early and after figuring that I’d get back from Flowerdale a little too late to feel confident driving home (can’t see well enough in that icky dusk lighting) I too pulled the pin.
Lee, Cath and Kylie all saddled up, Kaye headed over to the market to catch up with friends, planning to meet them at Flowerdale with Brian for lunch. After getting the “departing” video for the group (I had to get something, my camera hadn’t been out at all over the weekend!) I loaded up to leave them to a lovely ride.
I passed the girls just out of Strath Creek, and saw some lovely shots taken from their ride (well done girls). The creek crossing looked reasonably deep, but everyone did well Lee was lead rider and navigator – good to know she’s a pro and that no riders were lost. Unlike lunch. Unfortunately an unanswered call to book lunch actually meant that the Flowerdale Estate wasn’t open and the promised deliciousness wasn’t available. By all accounts, however, the ride was still worth it and another Club Weekend is done and dusted.
Looking forward to more numbers in July. I’m booked in to cook so hoping no-one is scared away by that prospect! See you next month members! Guests, anyone?