Fun on the trail!

From front to back; Cowboy Wayne, Kyle, and Joyce!

Today was the PERFECT day to ride. About 67 degrees and sunny! I arrived at the barn around 12:30, only to find Joyce and "Cowboy" Wayne already mounted and about to head out. They were going alone to get in some training time for Chester, who's only 3. I was to wait for whoever else was coming and meet them somewhere on the trail. About that moment, Kyle showed up who is Gelder's mom, and we hurried to tack up so we could meet up with Joyce and Wayne. During our tack up time, no one else showed up, so we went ahead and mounted and headed into the back pasture. Tiki was quiet, quiet, quiet. I didn't have tome to longe, but I actually hadn't planned to, anyway. We hacked to the back gate on the buckle, Kyle opened the gate from Gelder's back, we both exited, and she locked it back. We hacked quietly along the road to the spot where we go onto the trail, and both horses were relaxed and happy. Gelder has a bit of a reputation as a hothead, but he was GREAT!

We walked down the big hill on the buckle, trotted over a little log, and meandered towards where Joyce and Wayne were. We were literally on the buckle, just yapping away. Tiki was completely relaxed in Gelder's company, and he was perfect through the big water puddle because it had dried up to a MUD puddle, which was fine in Tiki's book.:) Joyce called and told us to hurry up, so we picked up a LOVELY little canter to where they were. At that point, we were in a combination of easy trail, steep hills, NO trail, tons of sticks, steep step ups, tree trunks, briars, branches, rocks, and ruts. We enjoyed a few canters up a few hills, walked in the front, middle, and back, and just generally had a blast. Rode for 3 1/2 hours, and Tiki was SO happy to have his clip. He was covered in sweat and foam when we got back, where I gave him a quick bath and put him in his stall with water and hay. I was a good girl and cleaned my tack, then came home so I could post this blog and chill!:) Planning to ride tomorrow so I can test out the new bit in our pasture riding-trying to learn how to carry ourselves and bend sessions. Till then!