Horses and trails

Now that I am unpacked and settled in for the most part, I was pretty excited about the prospect of a beautiful weekend ahead of me. It had been rainy all week so visions of being outside in any capacity were appealing.

The very first day I was moving into my new place, two of my neighbors came over to introduce themselves. Next to me in the picture are Linda and Allison- neighbors extraordinaire! Although I thought my equestrian days were over when I left the USOC, their enthusiasm for horse riding convinced me to join them for a little tailgate action at the 58th Stoneybrook Steeplechase here in town. It's a rich tradition with the locals complete with hat and tailgate contests!

I became quite versed in Eventing during my tenure with the Team & Technical Sportfolio at the USOC, but I had never seen Steeplechase contested before. Allison's husband Jason staked out some prime real estate with his truck so that we were tailgating right in front of one of the jumps. With temps in the upper 70s/low 80s, Saturday turned out to be a sun-filled day of eating and meeting new folks at the tailgate party! Ironically, most of the people there weren't horse-people per se, but were there for the festive atmosphere on such a beautiful day and to support the local community.

The towns surrounding the one I live in are renowned for golfing and equine. There are no less than a dozen golf resorts in the surrounding communities of Southern Pines, Pinehurst and Talomore. On the Equine side of the house, the sandy footing of this geography draws horse-people from every discipline to live and train in the area. Beyond the Olympic disciplines of Equestrian that I was familiar with, racing, carriage driving, hunting, polo and Steeplechase are all popular in this area. Such a high concentration of golf resorts and horse farms make for lush, open expanses of green scenery in every direction.

Faced with another beautiful day this morning, I figured I'd get my "chores" done early so I could take the Harley out for a little exploring in the afternoon. While visiting with such a diverse group of folks at the races yesterday, I learned that there are several running trails throughout the woods just blocks from my house. So after cleaning house and doing some laundry, I pulled on my running shoes and headed towards the horse trails up the road. The hills and sand humbled me as I had to run much shorter than I had intended, but the scenery and smell of spring in the air made up for the abbreviated workout.

With responsibilities behind me, I jumped on my bike after a quick shower and set out to explore the many back roads through the area. I rolled out dozens of leisurely miles on country roads flanked with horse farms like the one in this picture. I took the scenic route (i.e. I was disoriented for much of the afternoon!) and explored alternate byways from the main highways. The smell of pine hung delicately in the air as did pollen from all the blooming flora. By the time I got back, me and my bike were covered in a fine yellow dust. Guess I'll wait a few weeks before I wash the bike and car again!

Well, that's my weekend. Laying low to gear up for another week of being the "new kid" at work. I may not be the sharpest crayon in the box, but I'm not the dullest either, so I'm confident I'll get up to speed pretty quickly!

Have a great week!!!