Ditching Work

Not work-work, as I didn't have a class today, but home-work.  I have a ton of stuff to do at home, namely packing for our move, but I ditched out (and felt guilty about it) so that I could get out on a ride.  Her Highness needs her exercise, you know.

I decided to ride in the Aussie saddle again.  It crippled me up last week when I was working at the livery, but thought that maybe the reason why I was all crippled up was because I hadn't ridden in a saddle since last HCR.  I was going to have to put a pad on under the bareback pad anyway, and if I was going to go to that much trouble, I might as well throw the five pound Aussie, right?

I didn't know where we were going to ride, and didn't really care, it just felt so good to be out.

Weird to see a saddle, huh?

Since Mom AND Bill were available to ride, we all went out, which meant Washoe had to be ponied, because he's a cry baby when we leave him behind.

Neither of the gelders look happy with the arrangement.

I had some vague idea of riding up toward the pond, but after we crossed the creek I had a better idea!  We haven't been to the campsite beneath the Goat Trail this year, so that's where we headed.

It's a bit overgrown

And parts of it were brutal, even by our standards.

There was barely a horse-width between the fallen tree and
a wall of boulders.  This just as we're clearing the boulders.

Ouchouchouch...these pines are pokey!

Some breathing room *sigh*

Thanks to all the moisture, the creek was still running beautifully.

Mom got some great pictures and then the batteries died, so there isn't any pictorial proof that we let the horses picnic at the campsite, but we did - honestly!  They were all pretty happy about it, though it was over far too soon according to them.

We retraced our steps and headed back to the lodge.  Little Missy was tuckered out.  We didn't have one single argument about the speed in which we were going to return to the lodge.  She just put one hoof in front of the other.  Before we left, I didn't bute her, because I hadn't intended on our ride to be so tough.  Once she got warmed up, she went great, but as she got tired, she started gimping a little bit.  Arthritis is a bitch, I tell you.

I let her have her head when we got back into the parking lot; usually she "parks" herself at the hitch rail, but today she went to the tack room door, just like she was going to go in the lodge.  She had both front hooves up on the flagstone step and waited patiently for me to dismount and pull the saddle.  So considerate of her to park right next to the saddle racks.  Unfortunately, I couldn't dismount where she parked herself without killing myself, so I made her back down off of the steps.

I started to take her over to the pen, got across the street and decided that I did need to bute her, so we headed back toward the lodge.  And then I got a brilliant idea!  Since she wanted to go into the lodge so badly when we got back from the ride, I'd see if she'd go in through the tack room door.  Sometimes, I don't know where these ideas come from, I really don't.