BRRRRRRISK!!!

The weather and my Curly matched today - brisk! Wow, oh, wow, was Ah-D raring to go and full of it, and wow, oh, wow, did I ever have fun on the run!

He says, "Stand still for a picture; are you nuts?!"

You can see how the wind is blowing his mane out straight, and we are on a trail in the woods!  It was crazy windy. I didn't take the dogs, because I knew I wanted to move along at a good pace, and I didn't want to wear out the older ones.

We headed into the woods across the street, and take the ridge on the right through the trees and over the stone wall to the large open Christmas tree farm and on to the snowmobile trails. I like to go this way for two reasons.  First, I don't like going through my neighbor's dooryard on the way out, and second, winding through the woods puts Ah-D in the listening frame of mind.

Today, he was listening all right, listening to the wind whipping the trees, and he was still mightily full of it by the time we reached the open land.  Spook! Yep, but it didn't bother me one whit.  I know it was just his way of releasing his pent up energy, and he wasn't even looking at anything and didn't go far.  My heart was still about four feet up and over, but my butt was still in my Bob Marshall, my feet were in my trail stirrups, my hand was still on the reins, and my mind was calm. I completely ignored it, and Ah-D came right out of it.  He was still a prancing and a dancing, or at least thinking it in his brain, but that made this ride challenging and fun!
We headed down over the snowmobile trail.  He was so collected and forward, I thought, "Hey, I bet he'll gait; what am I waiting for?" and sure enough, a little nudge, the command, "Gait" and away we went, heading AWAY from home.  Generally, he tends to fox trot towards home, but today was another story.  And then, we went into the most collected and lightest canter he has ever given me - I was in 7th heaven!

I was dressed in layers to the hilt, and once when the wind stopped blowing, my core actually got a bit too toasty.  That lasted less than two minutes, though.

When we came up upon the open land area again, the wind was still whipping down through the field, and Ah-D was still in Let's Go mode.  I don't know if you can see it or not, but about half way to the houses, there is a stone wall that crosses this field, with only a gap where the trail goes through.  And that stone wall has been a thorn in our side for a long time.  I don't remember ever getting Ah-D to canter through that gap.  He will canter up to it and after he passes through it, but he gets all uptight as he passes through it and does this big jerky trot and gets all looky.  Sometimes he throws in a spook for good measure, just to keep me on my toes. (It works...he has me trained to slow him down as we pass through the gap.) Well, not today!!!!  Today, I pushed him to canter right through it.  I meant it, and I wasn't falling into any of his funny business and he knew it.  It felt so good!  I know it sounds like a small thing, but it is not.  It is HUGE for us! I praised the heck out of him when he did it, cantered all the way up to my neighbors' house, turned Ah-D back around, and we nailed it a second time!! (Going with even more fervor!) 

I congratulated my pony on a job well done.  And, speaking of congratulations, CONGRATULATIONS TO OUR 2013 RAC PROMOTOR DENISE CONROY ON THE BIRTH OF HER NEW GRANDBABY JUNE!