Dads, Mr. No Shoulders and a Dunk

Leah and my weekend at Sawgrass with our dads was a hit!

Pulling up to Sawgrass Friday in the early evening we found Leah’s Dad, Herb, and Papa rockin’ on the front porch getting to know each other for the first time. They looked at us with puzzled expressions similar to the horses that met us at the gate… we were singing Glee’s “Bust Your Windows” at the top of our lungs and just realized our windows were rolled down! :)

After unloading our weekend groceries we went straight to work on our dinner plans (hamburgers, freedom fries, hot pepper corn and buffalo chicken dip). While the Glee singing concert continued in the kitchen the dads interrupted my solo of “Don’t Rain on My Parade” to work outside on the tractor and then to watch sports. Dinner was a big hit and we stayed up swapping horse stories until late with plans to sleep late the next morning.

Herb had coffee ready Saturday morning and then helped Papa with a yummy Sawgrass breakfast: homemade biscuits, sausage, eggs, and grits. It was perfect! Papa planned to watch Clint’s football practice so he headed out shortly after breakfast, leaving us with a full gorgeous Saturday of riding horses!

Leah and Comet

Me and Cisco

Herb riding Red and Leah riding Comet

The second ride of the day we started out on the East side of the property. Cisco was being quite a problem child so I had to remind him a few times who was on him! While riding through thick brush in an open field I saw a LONG black snake slither at the edge of Cisco’s hoof. Luckily Cisco didn’t see it but Mr. No Shoulders was on my mind for the rest of the trip!

Herb and Leah on the east side of the property.

Leah was getting a feel for how to get Comet in a Saddle Gait so we rode the horses pretty hard all day! Since it was so hot and the horses were good and foamy we decided to let them drink some water. We took a short cut to the back side of the Big Bass Lake and let them drink… I’m rarely this adventurous but I had told some stories about how I use to swim with the horses I grew up with so, along with the heat, I was inspired to find some shallow water and swim to the other side of a wall of trees. The shallow water was short lived because I was calf deep in water and I didn’t want my saddle to get soaking wet! So as Leah and I were guiding our horses back Herb was sinking… He hopped off Red and we were all a little panicky because it happened in such slow motion! Can there be quick sand in a lake?? When Red put his head to the side to blow bubbles out his nose I realized he was lying down!!! We had a good laugh and Herb rocked him until he stood up and walked him back to shore. Guess Red was really hot!

Herb and Red after his DUNK! :)

We finished our ride untacked the horses, washed them down and while Leah and I started dinner (hotdogs, chicken, freedom fries, and green beans), Herb went to the lake to fish. After our fabulous dinner we watched Young Guns and went to bed.

Sunday after Herb made us a yummy breakfast (biscuits, eggs, and grits) we were too sore to ride horses so we gassed up the Sidekick and went for a quick mud ride in the rain then off to Taco Casa to complete a fabulous weekend at Sawgrass!


Quotes of the weekend:
Mr. No Shoulders who is under the employment of Big Red!
I’m not that far from panic myself.
I just tell them that it’s Rachel’s fault I like country music!
Ride camel, ride…
You have to think… What is beyond me? Tennessee!
You can bid the mob good day!
It’s all fun and games until someone hits a tree!
It all tastes the same to me.
Summoning Grey with Wicked.
Too much information… Filter, filter, filter!
For such a rustic boyish weekend your dad had to listen to a whole lot of Wicked!