More from East Texas

I don't imagine I will ever catch up with my fellow Texan, Angie, but I must not let her think she is representing the Lone Star State alone.

Yesterday afternoon I tried a new "bit" on Autumn. I usually ride her in a string halter but have ridden her in snaffle bits as well. I decided I would try a bosal/hackmore. If you think, as I did, that this would be no different than a string halter, you would be wrong. I was on her bareback and was hoping to do the 5 minute trot as well, but decided it was not the smart thing to do, as she really was not happy with the bosal.

This morning we got up early so we could do our 5 mile ride before it got too hot. The down side to early rides is some awful biting flies in the shadows and creekbottoms. So we experimented with new tack on the girls, fly bonnets with ears. Not the suave look for sure but I couldn't believe the number of flies on Autum's ears that couldn't take a bite. Haney rode Amanda, our Curly Mustang with less than a dozen rides on her and she never flinched about the bonnet. She is such a steady girl, although a little lazy to keep up with Autumn's power walk pace.

We were settling into a comfortable groove when Autumn stopped abruptly. She was sure that bush moved. I laughed and then realized it did move. Then we heard what she did. A herd of wild hogs, about 4 adults and probably 10 little piglets went scurrying out of the brush and across the trail. If I had known how well Autumn would handle the excitement I would have pulled out my camera and documented that.

This is the only picture of me from the ride. Haney is not fond of the camera and I was trying to back into view. You can see how sweaty Autumn had gotten already.

Overall it was a pleasant ride. I also thank Denise for pushing us all out there. Go Curlies!