Third Time's a Charm

Denise was right, third time's a charm! We had an excellent ride today on our ponies, and IT DIDN'T RAIN. Amazing. I worked with both horses on ground work beforehand, and it certainly worked wonders because when AhD came down out of the pasture this morning he was wild-eyed and keyed up. An hour later, after a long grooming, backing, and give-to-pressure session, he was soft-eyed and gentle.

We headed up our road because Mr. Moose was spotted yesterday on our trail across the road. I was dismounted and walked AhD because the traffic travels too fast, and I didn't trust a new horse, a beginner rider and a blind hill to boot.

Both horses were on their best behavior. It was awesome. We looked out over the green fields but didn't ride in them for fear of punching them up. This field gets hayed. We headed up a dirt road (a glorified driveway) called Churchhill Drive.

My pony looks grouchy, but he's just listening for the click of the camera because sometimes he gets a treat afterwards. What a good boy!

We stopped and overlooked a beautiful little pond nestled in the woods.

This pond adjoins The Secret Garden that I like to visit. The flowers are beautiful. Today there were some Mallards swimming around in the pond.

This is my cute and bratty Mr. Personality trying to bite my boot for some extra attention. Like riding him on the trail isn't enough? I showed him the crop. He stopped biting. What a card!

We walked down this gorgeous wooded trail. Both Mister and AhD walked along beautifully and were enjoying this ride just as much as me and Ian. I love this trail, but today we turned around before we hit the brook crossing because of the Newbies. I'm thinking later today, I may finish this trail and cross the not-so-little brook.

We turned around and headed down Back Street towards home. There is virtually no traffic, so I let Mister and Ian get this far ahead, and then I gaited AhD to catch up. I've found that long, not-too-steep hills are the best place to get AhD to do his Curly Shuffle, or whatever it is. It is funky and interesting to sit to.

AhD was great the whole way back. He expects and gets cheek rubs before I dismount.

Can you tell I'm still in love with my Curly? Even through all of our trails this year. He looks quite dashing with his turquoise and faded-red saddle blanket that coordinates with my RAC shirt. I hope my fellow RACers enjoyed joining me on this ride. I love reading about all your adventures in this blog. Keep on keepin' on, and happy trails to you all!