on happy places
Lovely trail ride with Denali and Sussi and friends yesterday! No more than the normal hill loop, but haven't done that since last fall, BEFORE we went up to Trudy's (since it was snow covered ground by the time I moved her back home from there).
Denali was rather good, actually! No bucking and only a bit of testing -- which she does every spring the first time or two we go out, then she gets into it and goes OH YES THIS IS FUN. Keeping her in work through this winter has given me a VERY fit horse (oh lord yes) but she's also so much more mentally happy with tasks and work and play all mixed together, she's not using her energy for evil means. Much. To say the least, it's been a pretty decent spring for us, not nearly the energetic leaps through the air or attempts to dislodge me that we've had the last two years.
Or at age 13, she's finally growing up? :P naw, that's a bit unfair since she's really always been a very mature girl in her attitude to life and riding.
So I picked up a sunburn, Denali got a good dried-sweat-induced-shedding session afterwards, and then a good bath and some grazing (since we FINALLY have some green grass growing! it's been a long dry and cold spring). And I woke up feeling physical beat up. Erg, I hate getting back into regular-riding, my body just doesn't cope like it did. This is the only part of getting 'old' that sucks. The answer of course, is to just keep active 5-6 days a week and never stop!
Denali was rather good, actually! No bucking and only a bit of testing -- which she does every spring the first time or two we go out, then she gets into it and goes OH YES THIS IS FUN. Keeping her in work through this winter has given me a VERY fit horse (oh lord yes) but she's also so much more mentally happy with tasks and work and play all mixed together, she's not using her energy for evil means. Much. To say the least, it's been a pretty decent spring for us, not nearly the energetic leaps through the air or attempts to dislodge me that we've had the last two years.
Or at age 13, she's finally growing up? :P naw, that's a bit unfair since she's really always been a very mature girl in her attitude to life and riding.
So I picked up a sunburn, Denali got a good dried-sweat-induced-shedding session afterwards, and then a good bath and some grazing (since we FINALLY have some green grass growing! it's been a long dry and cold spring). And I woke up feeling physical beat up. Erg, I hate getting back into regular-riding, my body just doesn't cope like it did. This is the only part of getting 'old' that sucks. The answer of course, is to just keep active 5-6 days a week and never stop!