Top O' The Hill Farm: Diva of Driving ~ and other various news

Nimue has had lots of adventures in the last few weeks. I am planning on doing a VERDA competitive drive in the fall with her ( I believe that will be a 30 miler.. but not sure) -- plus we have been dreaming up some challenging routes for the fun of it. Zoe will try out some driven dressage and the cones in July .. so they have been practicing together in the big ring when ever they have the time to spare. I had a photo of Zoe's father driving a hackney pony in the show ring at Madison Square Garden which I thought would be fun to scan and post next to one of her learning to drive... but I cannot find it anymore ! Oh well.. got misplaced and will turn up someday.

Zoe and I started June out with the wonder cart pony Nimue -- we had a couple of ideas for our drive... and settled on heading over to the floodplains, driving through Baltimore, over the trail to Quarry Road and then down to the boat landing.. and on. The weather was perfect and as usual Nimue was in the mood to trot !! I had to change both wheels out on the cart as the bearings wore out... I try to keep several spare wheels ready to go since we do drive a lot.

We did not take any photo's for the first 10 miles or so... since it was all pretty well traveled roads and scenery. Once we got over into Baltimore.. Zoe began snapping and video'ing. Still on back country dirt roads... the llamas run over to say hello. Keri does not like these guys -- Nimue does not even glance -- she's on a mission :)

My favorite little Baltimore Town Hall. Many times when we trot by here, there are cows loose in the road - but not today.

As we trot further down this back road -- the trees open up and we are rewarded with some beautiful views.

One of these dirt roads dead ends into a trail which connects onto Quarry Road - leading into Perkinsville - where we cross the highway and head down toward the boat landing and the floodplains to follow the river. Here's the quarry for which the road was named.

We head down toward the boat landing to follow the floodplains and the river.

As we wind our way in and out of the woods along the river and the floodplains - we come to a gate which we had forgotten was there. Not a problem when on horseback -- but we have to unhitch Nimue to get past this obstacle.

Lately we've been doing this a lot -- since we've been traveling on much more challenging trail.. there are spots we have to unhitch -- doesn't take long. Zoe always gets stuck dragging the cart through anywhere it fits.

We can peek at the river through the foliage along the way --- we fly through the trail here and eventually come out next to the airport.

And guess what -- I wish we had been readier with the video -- a plane takes up a glider and lets it go .. right on the other side of the fence as we trot by.

I like doing my gliding right in my cart behind my pony thank you :)

This route is a snowmobile trail in the winter.. it's pretty well groomed and a fun trot in the cart.

We exit out near the North Springfield dam -- which you have all seen photo's of from previous rides. Up to the left is the reservoir..

We cross the highway and trot home !

Through North Springfield ~

We took a slightly different route - over French Meadow Road to avoid back tracking... and stopped in at the auto body shop where my number 1 son works. Naturally, we shared a few jokes about front end alignment and some transmission work :)

What a fun trip !! Anyone who wants to watch an extended version of our trip on you tube -- here's the link

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sxG3yv8UsW4

Our next big adventure with this driving Diva was a few days ago.. we trotted into Baltimore again, turned onto Dean Brook Road -- which is a lovely back country road for riding or driving. That day it turned out to be chillier than we anticipated -- we were ill prepared.. and despite a terrific drive in the cart -- we ended up getting quite wet, it rained, the wind blew and the trip was a long one over Hawk's Mountain ! We met our first big obstacle of the journey right on my road -- the town decided to replace the culvert today !!

We trotted down Route 10 for a bit.. before getting on the dirt roads heading over to Cavendish.

We pass an old farmstead -- the barns and sheds remain.. the house is long gone.

Nimue was excited to trot down new and different back roads.. when we reached the first trestle bridge.. silly girl spooked a bit at the grate in the road :)

We trot past a few very old farmhouses built in the early 1800's... we are traveling some long ago horse and cart routes here :)

We are approaching the town of Cavendish now. We cross the bridge, pass Mack Moulding and trot through the town proper- swing around on the back roads to make a big loop in order to head home over the mountain on trail.

From now on -- we vow we are bringing cash with us for snacks.... these long drives work up quite an appetite ! We could have flagged the Schwann's man down for a sweet treat.

Cavendish Town Hall -- much more modern than the one in Baltimore.

More beautiful old farmhouses ...

We are now crossing the last of the town roadways... just up here is the start of the trail over the mountain. We reach the trail opening and find it to be a LOT steeper than we remember from riding it last year. I am glad we are entering it from this side.. and not coming down it from the Baltimore side.

For a short while we trot the powerlines. Zoe's son Dominic - who loves to travel in the cart with us- spotted a big doe before anyone else did. I never realized deer could make so much snorting noise... she was scared of us and perhaps protecting a fawn... Nimue paid no mind and kept trotting.

Head back into the woods on the trail.. it's a steady upward climb but not as steep as the first part.

couple of bridges to cross along the way.

and we reach MUD.... each puddle bigger and deeper than the previous one --

One puddle was quite deep and smushy.. the cart tipped, I fell onto the floorboard, Zoe fell out into the mud... I was urging Nimue on so we would not be stuck in the sinking mud.. I ran over Zoe's leg ! It was actually her leg that helped us get up and out... and I asked why she didn't video that part of the trip !? because it was kind of funny.. but now we are still far from home , wet and cold and it's raining.

The camera is just about losing power.. we save what's left for the view ! Up this final bit of trail and there is a spot that is open for viewing out across the mountains.

Still awesome even with the raindrops... We still have some steep downhill trail and then it's back onto Baltimore Road and homeward bound... as fast as possible.. BRRRRRR.. chilly passengers and one tired pony :)

BCF Splash Dancer is continuing his baby steps toward becoming the Big Man on the hill. I video'd his first trip down the driveway -- mares on both sides excited to meet and greet. Splash is always more interested in the young colts and geldings -- asserting his manliness by talking to them. Silly boy. Zoe warmed him up in the big ring and practiced the Intro test A.

You can see at first, Splash likes to pretend he's tired.. or the mud in the corner is tricky to walk on... he yawns a lot during the first part of his warm up session.. then he settles in and performs. Of course, he's still the new boy on the block so -- he does need to test and try.

Splash tries out Intro Test A

Hasn't he got the most handsome kind face and eye ?

After the ring work, they went for a nice trot down the dirt roads, where Splash found out he can open up the throttle and trot BIG.... he loves this and Zoe treats him to this as often as possible. He did not even know he was capable of that motion-- and as I viewed it I am thinking.. MAN.. he's going to be a stupendous CART HORSE !! What a great way to show him off.. so this winter for sure -- Mister Splash Dancer will be driving.