The Last True Fall Hurrah?

October 25th…it will be November the next time I get a chance to ride, and this day was GLORIOUS, so I was bound and determined to enjoy today day from the back of my Curly. AhD had different ideas. Note the high head and tight rein. His main idea consisted of, "Let’s get back to the barn because I don't want to leave Mister Man today." He was also thinking, "This wind makes me frisky and fresh." Or was that my thought? At any rate, it fit him today. I tacked him up in an eclectic blend of English and Western flavored with purple. We did the give to pressure and backup routines beforehand, but he was still a handful. I rode next door to talk to my husband, who commented, "Gawd is he fat; he’s fatter than I am!" I retorted, "Not a chance!" AhD promptly attempted to stomp on my neighbor’s Puggle, so we did another Backup Routine before I mounted again. He still felt repeatedly like a coiled spring, so I headed him into the woods and then left the trail to bushwhack. As I have previously mentioned, he is very good at this, so when he thwacked my knee hard against a birch, I was MAD. I cuffed him twice on the neck, which he barely noticed, but now it was ME with The Attitude, and he did take notice of THAT. We bushwhacked some more and crossed a couple of streams. AhD settled down a bit; he was still go, go, go but I kept him in line, line, line. Wow, was it ever beautiful, everywhere we went. Leaves carpeted the trails and that earthy fall smell abounded. We had a few nice, springy trots and an invigorating in-hand gallop up a fairly long and steep hill. We returned to the barn, and I hadn’t had enough, so I took off the saddle and headed back out bareback. What a blast! AhD was all sweaty and sticky ~ perfect. I wrapped my legs around his barrel and felt right at home. We cantered up the first part of Jason’s loop and then criss-cross-walked down a really steep hill, AhD with his haunches properly tucked underneath him. We trotted down another trail and, whoops, I lost my camera out of my pocket, so I jumped off and backtracked a bit. Luckily it landed on soft ground. I put AhD in the stream and used the banking for an easier mount up. He stood still like a good boy, and we headed for home, still energetic and happy. I don’t really know which part I liked best, the fast charge up the hill full bore or the whole bareback episode, but this ride surely was fantastic!