Alone Again

The morning dawned cool and bright...not that I was all that excited to be awake at 7a.m. (Betsy had invited me over to celebrate my LD completion and I had celebrated a little too much and didn't get home until 12:30 a.m.!)

I savored my coffee and emailed Karen to see if she would go riding with me. We haven't been riding together in several months.

She emailed back and said that she was having back issues from too much cleaning/moving furniture around and the Doc had told her no hard riding....man, she always has some excuse....

Ok, well forget that, Betsy was leaving for another Inn Sitting Job and Peg goes to church and spends time with her family on Sundays...ALONE AGAIN! SIGHHH.

I went and got Falcon and brought him up to the horse trailer. Today we would use the saddle that FITS him and DOESNT give me knee pain. All I had to do was adjust one of the stirrups that had given me a fit on the LD....easily done.

Saddled up, I went to the house to get my water, I came out to the sound of thundering hooves....WHATTTTTTTTTT?????

It wasnt Falcon, it was Red and Dakota who had escaped through a stall door that I hadnt latched securely.

Falcon was surprised, but didnt act too crazy. Red and Dakota trotted over to him and started munching grass, but as soon as I arrived they went tearing all around the yard and then tore down to the barn lot and in to the barn.

I raced down there and shut the barn lot gate as they came charging back out of the barn. This time I opened the gate to the pasture, and out they went, snorting and tossing their held high heads....silly boys. I secured all doors/gates and went back to Falcon.

Once I was mounted, he was happy to take off down the trail at a speedy pace...He was frisky in the cool weather and zipped up the 1.3 mile trail to the radio tower at a canter. I think we made it in 7 min.

After that, we had to walk slowly down the other side on the slippery loose shale, but Falcon did a little better today.
At the paved road,(where he handled the traffic very well without spooking at all) I hand walked him to Summers Rd, tightened the girth while the Maremmas laid in the creek gulping water, remounted and took off again.

Falcon wanted to canter, but I kept pulling him back to the extended trot as we zoomed down towards Moyers Farm. No big trucks moving today. All were parked and the scary BULLDOZER was parked further from the road.

Onward we went and zipped around to Phil and Bob's (my neighbors)driveway. (instead of cutting through the field which was wet and full of tall unmown grasses.)

Falcon cantered up their driveway before I turned him onto one of their mown trails at the edge of their woods that skirts their garden and orchard. At the top of the hill, we turned right, down through the woods, back up to Ruth's house and then back home from the north side of my property, adding almost another mile to the ride.

It was a WONDERFUL ride 4.7 miles in 33 min.

Then I listened to Falcons heart rate and gut sounds with a stethascope. He stood stock still for me...what a TURKEY! But I will keep practicing with him, so that hopefully he will behave himself at the Fort Valley Ride in Oct.

After a good hosing, I trotted him out for more education for the ride, Electrolyted him and put him back out with his buddies.

What a great way to start the day! Yeahhhhhh!