Back on Didder

After enjoying several of Betsy Lirakis' horses last weekend, I am back on my Didder! Ian and I went out for a ride on Saturday evening just before dark. We headed out to Jason's Loop, since THE DEER FLIES ARE GONE!!! aaaahhh We enjoyed a pleasant ride, and our horses were willing and in good moods (other than the bucks the Haffie is still throwing at my son when asked to canter). AhD was excellent! I rode him English. We discovered that my nephew Jason has made a new trail! It's awesome, and puts a nice new twist on the same old same old trail we take when we don't have too much time. One section has a super steep downhill section that requires AhD to do a nice butt tuck to maneuver it. The woods were cool and deeply scented. We arrived home just after dark, and let our horses find their way on the last familiar parts of the trail since we know they can see much better than us in those conditions.
Today, I saddled AhD up in my "junky old" western saddle. I've owned this saddle since I was twelve, and I recently cleaned and oiled it all up. Boy, did it ever feel good and familiar to have this saddle on AhD. We started off by re-exploring that brand new trail. We were moseying along, when I heard a woodpecker start to carry on with a shrill cry. AhD went on alert and twisted to look behind him - right on the crest of a big hill. I was thinking, "It's just a woodpecker, what's the big deal?" when out from behind us shot my number one dog Grace, running after us at full tilt. Well, the dogs were in the pen when I left, so I knew what that meant - that my daughter Nicole was out walking the dogs and Grace had abandoned them for me and Didder. I knew Nicole was going to be mad as a hornet since Grace ran off, so then Didder and I were on a mission. After twenty minutes or so, we found Nicole and the other three dogs stuck to her like glue, and yep, Nicole was none too pleased with Grace. What can I say, my number one dog is a ratfink, something like my Curly pony. :)
All three of us then crossed the road and headed down the powerline. We went up and down the steep and rough terrain, but when we narrowly missed a three foot drop that seemed to open up directly under Didder's feet, I headed him into the woods. We cantered along a familiar trail or two, and thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. We checked out a few streams. Grace was able to swim in the pools, but there was barely any water running because it has been so dry here. Heading home, we galloped up our Running Hill, and then cantered through over my neighbors huge mown field. What a ride! I just feel like Didder is so in tune to me now. No fake spooks, no rotten behavior, not even a kick at Grace. We landed at the barn a bit tired and sweaty, and totally happy. I picked a juicy apple off of the tree to reward my awesome Curly.Here we are relaxing at the end of this great ride.