Welcomed but unexpected TTR support!

[Mike Murphy]

Ya know, the TTR website has just surpassed it's one year anniversary. Just to give you a brief history, it was created to bring together six trail riding buddies (my cowboy family) and eliminate the phone calls and voicemails that went with organizing a ride. I just wanted a place where we could all reach each other easily and never miss riding together. Well, here we are a year later and the family has expanded to over 1,500.

I've been fortunate over the past few days to read many of the blogs, forums and notes going back and forth to members and pleasantly surprised to see the support that we provide each other...I've seen people in desperate situations saved by total strangers (well, not complete "strangers" but members of TTR), people who owned horses but had NEVER been on a trail ride are now riding with their posse and fulfilling their lifelong dream, some members from other states are even seeking homes in Tennessee because they want to be part of family and fun that we all enjoy on horseback, knowledge is openly and anxiously shared by so many people on this website, heck we're so much like family that I even see arguments and disagreements between members as if they were battling "brothers and sisters" while other family members come to their defense.

For me personally, I've met so, so many great people, a lot of you in person and when I do we always seem to greet each other with a hug instead of a handshake. I've bought a lot of stuff from members and sold some things to members and I feel a kinship and trust every time. Many of the friends that I've met here I'm sure will be lifelong friends, horse buddies, people I can reach out to if I ever need help (cause that's what horse people have a tendency to do)...well, these personal benefits weren't part of the original plan but what an incredible bonus!

What has TTR done for you, I'd love to hear your thoughts?

[Linda Grajewski]

Because of my husband's work we spent 23 yrs in big city areas; Dallas, Houston and New Orleans. As hard as it is to believe there were very few trail riders and I was very much an oddity or eccentric. You see I had much rather be messy and messing with a horse than going to the mall or a tea party. Now don't get me wrong, I have some lovely friends that I share those activities with once and awhile but my heart does not long for and hunger for those things. If I don't ride for a week I am like a caged tiger, just ask my husband. He is happy to say, 'honey why don't you go ride today'! (HaHa) I love TN and TTR because it has connected me with so many others of 'my kind'. Blessings to All you other Renegade Riders out there.
Love, Linda Grajewski

[Mike Murphy]

thanks for your comments Linda.

[ReubenT]

I find there's something about associating with horses and those who love them that makes me feel 'at home' as it were. They're all my friends wether I've met them or not. And I'm way out in the woods, work in the woods and fields, and don't get out much. This forum and a few others like it are my connection with friends even though I may not talk much. I used to go to horse council meetings and helped with the fair till it colapsed. (lack of funding) But now I don't know of a regular general purpose horse oriented meeting to go to within a reasonable distance.
There is a club nearby but it seems to purty much revolve around the local show which I don't care for that much. (competition just aint my cupa tea, + I see so many horses at such shows who're just bairly under control, sometimes not quite, and the owners seem to think that's just the way horses are. I see them as accedents waiting to happen, not a comfortable thing to sit and watch.)
Trail ridin and campin and music makin is what I want to do for awile.
I've been working toward being able to go places with my horses easily, and I'm getting close. Soon I can start taking advantage of the trail ride planning talk.

If I ever get into showing any it'll be at a higher level where much expertise and skill is required and will take me a lot of training time, and then I still don't care about winning anything, I would just love the accomplishment of having produced a very well trained horse. But so far I spend all my time feeding horses, feeding myself and a few others, and keeping warm. Tryin to make a little $$ here and there and then watch it vanish faster than I can make it. Not much time left to play with horses.

What's my agenda? First I'm getting a sutable road truck going, just putting together what's on hand, That's 95% done. Truck is ready to try out. I'll try it in the hay field tomorrow. Then I'm getting a car (EV/hybred) ready to sell. That's close, got the batteries today, just gotta get them installed and a generator mounted on a hitch rack. When it's ready will sell it (e-bay) and then head for FL with a load of hay, swap it and some $ for a nice gaited horse I've already bargained for, come back with a load of calphos for my agriculture activities and run right back down after said horse. With that I'll be ready to go for it, (trailwise) Shootin for a month to accomplish that things to do lineup.

After that, I need to get the house finished for my folks before too long, it's close to being done already so won't take but a few weeks. Then I need to clear some land this winter, for orchard and pasture, 7 acres is my goal, 5 for the horses and 2 for the apple trees. I have an old dozer a 4x4 and a couple chainsaws to handle that. (we have 80 acres of mountainside but no pasture, I cut hay on timber company land next to us just to keep it mowed for the huntin club)

A bit longer term and something I'll be working on a little at a time: I'm working on developing an income source that'll run without me being here to push it like an overloaded wheelbarrow. Once I get that accomplished I'll be able to spend a whole lot more time foolin with horses and going places with them. Not have to worry about where the next dollar is gonna come from. That's one of my biggest problems, run out of $$ every time I turn around and have to blow a bunch of time rounding up some more. I've been researching things and I think I have a handle on some electromechanical stuff that just may be configurable into an automatic dollar generator. Yah, I'm an inventor of sorts, pretend to be anyway, do have a couple real inventors in my family tree, one of them built a first steam powered floating dredge way back when rivers needed digging out to make them navigable. That was a great grandfather and his brothers, father, and uncles that were into that stuff, my great grandfather had what I think was the first portable sawmill in exsistance, pulled it around with a steam engine that he converted to drive itself. Set it up on various farms to saw lumber for their barns and houses on site. vacinity of 1900. My granny talked about driving the team dragging in logs when she was just bairly big enough to do it. (she lived to 96, born in 1899) Oh well, happy trails to ya'll. Hope to see ya'll on the trails and campgrounds eventually here and there.

[Adrienne Walsh]

What has TTR done for me? It has given me a large extended family to turn to when I need company for a ride, a place to ask for advice or share knowledge that may help someone else, a place to vent about horse issues that bother me or to brag about my favorite horse, to post my favorite trail pictures. I have met really nice people who told me about local places to ride, and learned about wonderful far away places that I hope to ride someday. Even though I have not had the chance to ride with many of you, I know that this site gives me a way to connect to other horse people any time, any place. Thank you Mike so much for building this site. I knew there was a need for a site like this, but I just didn't have the technical knowledge or skill to make it a reality myself. I really enjoy the TTR site and visit it nearly every day!

[Mike Murphy]

Eloquently said Adrienne, thank you much for giving so much thought to your comments...but I think you visit the site MORE than once a day ;-)

[Nancy Ave]

I think that Adrienne's reply summed it up for me (and probably for alot of the TTR members). I moved to TN last Nov. and didn't know a soul in this state. I chose TN for my "home" because of the weather and that there were trail riders here. This site has offered me a way of meeting great people and has given me a wealth of information on the many riding trails in TN. My friends in FL envy the fact that you (Mike) have given us this site and they don't have one! I think we (trail riders in TN) owe you a gigantic thank you! Maybe there should be a "Mike Murphy Appreciation Ride" next year!?

[Mike Murphy]

Ah shucks, thanks for your kind comments.

[Adrienne Walsh]

Oh that is a great idea! Mike...you could supply the wine!!! LOL Just kidding! We could make it a potluck and get some of our talented fiddlers and pickers that are on this site to provide entertainment. Maybe even buck dancing? Well, maybe not...but I am sure we could plan one hell of a hootnanny!

[Georgia Martin]

Congrats on your anniversary and wonderful year!! and many many more!!

Georgia