perfect ride
you know how sometimes you go for a ride and it seems like it is the best one ever, but then you remember all the other best ones ever and they still count too?
i had one today :)
elf my elf was too sleepy to get out of bed, so i went to our lesson by myself. when our instructor arrived she asked if today would be a good day to go out in the woods -- like OH YES OH YES OH YES!! (because there's no better day than early in hunting season when it's like 35f out and raining a little, right? because we have visibility vests and bells and icelandic riding suits, WE ARE SO THERE :)
so we went out. we brought her dog, sophie, who spent two minutes trying to herd the horses in the paddock and managed not to get kicked. then we were in the forest for about an hour and a half, covering about 9km.
so what made it so wonderful? i think partly it was how much my instructor enjoyed it; she's had some pelvis issues and hasn't been able to ride very much recently. also how much she appreciated ljufur, who is much more willing (and much stiffer to the right) than she had realized, and who is just such a fantastic horse really. partly it was the beauty of the winter forest, the pearlescent half-iced-over ponds, the fallen trees with a glimmer of bright snow on top, the rise of a flock of ducks from the water as we approached. partly of course it was being with stjarni, who is feeling better than he had been on his new arthritis supplements, moving so comfortably and well.
it was wonderful. that is all i can say.
when we were getting back, my instructor wanted to lead her dog so he wouldn't bother the horses again, so she took ljufur's noseband as an emergency leash-and-collar and i ponied ljufur from stjarni by the reins. this was a little awkward as ljufur is slower than stjarni and the reins over my elbow were shorter than the lead-rope-and-halter i'd usually use for ponying, and that part of the trail is pretty rocky and steep, but everyone did fine.
why don't i ride like this (aside from the instructor of course!) every day? this is a serious question, and i should ask myself that a lot. i have plenty of other things i am supposed to be doing, but surely i could prioritize differently than i do....