to ride... or not to ride...

that is the question! At least sometimes when one has got a bad day. I had such a day yesterday, when I didn't really fell well.

Nevertheless, I went to the stable and collected Julia from the pasture. She was in a rather wicked mood and tried to chase any horse that was a few meters away grazing peacefully away from us. I assume, there have been some changes in the hierachy of the herd lately and that Julia has once again managed to increase her rank a bit. She tends to get extra dominant then. :P

Anyway, I had had a bad day so far, so my intention was to take a look at her, groom her a bit and assure nothing is wrong, then let her go back to her favourite leasure time activity, grazing. Well, as intended, I started to groom and while I was at it, someone else came back from riding her horse. And we talked a bit, and eventually during our talk I told her that all I would do today is groom a bit. She looked at me with a rather confused expression and pointed at Julia. And she asked why the horse was saddled if I wanted to let her go outside again and not ride. Doh!!! Routine took over! I did indeed started grooming, then saddled.. and.. well, since the saddle was on... went for a ride. :P So much for not feeling well and taking a day off!

As you all know by now, I'm riding 'western' style. Currently, I'm considering buying a new saddle pad and am not too sure which one to take. I'm thinking about a felt pad (full felt) or maybe wool and felt. I'm wondering what works best with all the curls. The fleeze one (Reinsman, I think it was) seems to be a collector of curly fur during shedding times and stops transporting sweat as it should thanks to all the tiny curls stuck to it. I tried brushing them off, but it's pretty useless and I gave up after several attempts. Any suggestions on which type of pad works well with curly fur? (I'm only taking high quality, long lasting products into consideration).

Busy summer of working has begun!  Had a wonderful ride on Honey this afternoon and miss Kai is coming along wonderfully.  She's picking up and holding her front feet, letting me rub all over, and giving well to pressure.  Still working on leading though, that one is good for short distances lol.  Three more weeks and Honey will be in our towns "Not Quite Independence Day" parade :) means its time to get working more often.  I am hoping that when my schedule shifts, she and I will have more time together on trail and in the ring.
More later.
xoxo Honey & Bethany