A Day Away from the City!

Ryan and Stephanie Garrett joined Leah, Codie and me on a fun trip to SawGrass Sunday.
Our day began when Leah and I met Ryan and Steph at Ryan’s parent’s house. The Garrett’s are so great! They always welcome me with a smile and any kind of soft drink I want! We caught up with them for a chat, talking politics and the economy, and then we were off to Tuscaloosa to meet up with my cousin Codie. Taco Casa is the obvious chosen meeting spot so we had a quick lunch too, a mild combination burrito with extra sour cream, a small messy nachos and a large Mt. Dew! (Taco Casa has the BEST ice!)
After our delicious meal we were off. We arrived at SawGrass, layered up in the lodge, and then gathered in the barn.
Catching 5 horses is no easy task but surprisingly 3 were a sinch, while the other 2 horses we planned to ride bolted to the other side of the pasture! To save time, Leah helped me saddle the 3 we already caught. She put on her first bridle, yeah Leah!! (On the horse I mean) :)
Leah, Ryan and Steph went on ahead of us and took a short ride while Codie and I went to catch our stubborn horses, Dapple Gray and Black Jack, who had ventured a good half mile away. Bringing a scoop of feed was a must to entice the horses. Cisco came straight to us but he is still fragile from foundering a few months ago so we couldn’t ride him, then Black Jack followed. I caught Black Jack pretty easily with the halter while Codie distracted Cisco and Dapple Gray. Dapple Gray was getting a little to aggressive for Codie to catch him and Black Jack is a little skittish so we just took Black Jack back to the barn and came back out for Dapple Gray. Right when we got to where they were Cisco, Dapple Gray and Buddy went flying by back toward the barn… I thought, SERIOUSLY! Thankfully, catching Dapple Gray back at the barn wasn’t hard and we saddled them just in time to join our three friends on their adventure.


Stephanie rode Comet again. Some History… she rode him last year when the grounds were really wet. They were going pretty fast around a tree when Comet’s legs slipped underneath him and he fell on his chest which sent Stephanie flying over his head landing on her chest on the only patch of grass left in that field. I think it scared me more then it scared her!


Ryan rode Whiskey. Whiskey is pretty old and I usually feel comfortable putting anyone on him but he had acted up on their short ride… so he must have been in a dominant mood! In the first few minutes of riding he aggressively wanted to take the lead which was perfectly fine with me! So after walking straight into a barb wired fence he acted perfect!

Leah rode Red, my Dad’s favorite horse, who has become the most dominant horse in the pasture which also makes him the fattest horse!

Codie rode Dapple Gray who has one of the best gaits of all the horses! He also likes to walk at all the other horses’ butts! (Dapple use to wear the dominant crown in the pasture but Red is now the king!)

I rode Black Jack although there in no proof… someone has to be behind the camera! There is my shadow at least! :)

Here is Codie, Steph and Ryan riding head to butt!

Steph's a pro!

Here we are headed west young man!

A blurry shot of Leah and the SawGrass scenery.

After our ride we untacked the horses and cleaned up the barn a bit. Then we were off to have another fabulous mild combination burrito with extra sour cream, a small messy nachos and a large Mt. Dew at Taco Casa!

I loved spending time with Steph and Ryan, they headed back to Nashville after our tasty meal, and my cool cousin Codie, and my handy helping roommate!

Getting away from the city was nice and I hardly minded how chilly it was b/c it was so beautiful!