BLISS!!

WOW!! What a day! What a ride! I had planned on taking Linus down a nearby trail to an old quarry to continue working on water crossing. At the last minute, my good friend (whose horse is Linus' best friend!) said she was available for a ride and wanted to join me. We live closeby so met up on the side road between our farms and set off. I thought Bernie knew about the place we went to ride but she has only ever been on the trail part. A friend owns the rest of it and has really cleaned it up and made some great trails so we spent hours exploring! It was incredible.

Below is Bernie's horse Lucas. He's a bit older than Linus and is great emotional support in sticky situations! They're a great pair together because there are things Linus is better with and things Lucas is better with. So, between the two, there is nothing we cannot cross, pass or handle!

We first came to a flooded part of trail. I rode on this spot this past winter and was able to circle the quarry. So, to get where we wanted to go, Linus HAD to cross this flooded part. At this moment, it was the deepest, widest and longest stretch of water he had ever crossed. It blew me away that I did not have to do much encouraging to get him in the water.

Below is a shadow pic but it didn't turn out very well to show that it's a water shadow! Looks like it is just dirt! But, good that the water was that clear!

Lucas says "It's ok Linus, you got this!"

YES! He started splashing and blowing!!! The only thing he still is not sure about is when the winds pick up and the water starts rippling. We'll keep working on that.

Way to go my handsome boy!

The great part of riding with a friend is I get to be in some of the pics! 

Below is the first water of the day that we came to on our way to the quarry. Linus crossed once behind Lucas and then I had him go back through it on his own.

We trotted and cantered along some trails after our water playing. Then we came back this way too rather than taking the now very windy road back home. So on the way back we again played in the water, went back into the quarry which is about the size of a small lake. We are planning to go back when it is warmer out to swim the horses there!

From going to fighting over crossing a puddle to emerging in a lake...I am beyond thrilled with Linus. He stepped up his game in such a big way today and I could not be happier about it. We had a great day. Probably my best ride ever!

For those on Facebook, there are more pics there!

Donna & Linus

Lunenburg, ON