Thursday ride

Matt had been talking about going to the model train meeting tonight and the kids got all excited about going with him. He usually takes Levi but this would be a first for Ellie. So that meant I had the evening free to go riding! I asked Ruth if she was also game to go out on a ride and she was, so she hauled Sinwaan and we went out to Madam Dorian.

We had a great ride with a lot of trotting but the sand was quite deep and Sinwaan tired out by the time we turned around to head back on the gravel road. Blue is a little trailer-sour (or sweet?) and took off in this awesome floating speedy trot. Man that mustang can move! Sinwaan would trot along at his own pace, then canter a bit to try and catch up and tire out and need a break. He is still overweight and a bit out of shape, but we're working on that. Hopefuly with being worked/ridden twice a week he will get back in shape by the end of next month for Bare Bones, should I be able to do that ride.

In one section the mosquitos were really bad and I was shooing them and killing them and knew I could be in trouble since I have bad reactions to their bites. I usually get a welt that lasts about a week. I had some itching on my back thighs but tried not to scratch it too much.

The sun was setting as we rode back toward the trailer and I ran over a snake. I am certain it was dead, about a foot+ long but it could have been a baby rattler by the markings. Then Ruth spotted two bucks - we had seen a couple deer here and there but these bucks had some racks - maybe 3 points or so, and it was neat to see them. They vanished as quickly as they appeared and we later saw them about 1/2 mi down the road ahead of us again, bounding and bouncing and jumping fences into the orchard next door.

Weather was perfect today for riding, not too hot. Probably mid 80s in the middle of the day, cooler by the time we were finishing up.