We had another great hike today, 6 miles worth, out in the mountains. No real water crossings this time, although there were a lot of puddles. The trail was a little rutted from motorcycles, and we ran into two pairs of motorcycles while we were out there. They were polite, but I still don't like running into them on that kind of trail. Nowhere to go, and you're not sure if they're going to see you before they run you over. It was fine, but Duncan was rattled after the second set. The rest of the hike he was more worried. Luckily we only had a little over a mile left.
He's a pretty sensible guy, paying attention to where he puts his feet, ducking under branches, looking to me for input. I am really enjoying getting to know him better. These hikes really put him outside his comfort zone, but he handles it really well.
He trailered great too! I tied him in for the first time ever, to keep him from stepping on Scout who was in the first stall. Scout, by the way, was a dancing turd all the way home. Duncan didn't seem too bothered by it though.
John got to ride his horse as much as he wanted, for a first. I'm still not allowed to ride (although I did ride briefly yesterday, which was probably a mistake). He hiked and rode, to give Scout a break since he's super out of shape. Scout was a rock star! John is so tickled with him. I love it. I hiked the whole thing and I was a little achy internally toward the end. I'm taking it easy for the rest of the day. Well, trying to.
I just got done moving Bella and Pedro to new digs. John was awesome and dragged the water trough to the new location and ran billions of hoses out to get it filled. Now they're out closer to the boys, and I don't have to go to two different locations to feed.
Yesterday I got my new saddle out and put it on Scout. It's so light! I didn't have any trouble throwing it up there, even in my unfit state. I think it fit him too. Honestly, I didn't check it super carefully. He didn't mind it though. I climbed on and toodled around in the field, then decided to cross the boggy ditch, which is about 2-3 feet wide. He doesn't like boggy stuff, so he jumped it, and that barrel saddle horn kinda bumped me in the belly. STUPID. Right where my guts were rearranged. It didn't hurt at the time but I ached all night, which of course made me worry. Might have been from all the pulling on the lead rope, though, when I got down and insisted that he WALK across. I won't ride again, at least not anywhere I might get into trouble, until I get the go-ahead.
Oh, but what I meant to say is that I really like my new saddle. Comfy seat, closer contact, free-swinging fenders, light weight. The only thing I don't like is that saddle horn. If I end up keeping it I might cut the horn off. That would pretty much make it impossible to re-sell, but I would feel safer. Or I wonder if I could just unscrew it from the tree and replace it with something better. I didn't get any pics of Scout in my saddle because my phone is dumb and it totally crashed and deleted all my stuff. John fixed it though. He's so handy. He also fixed my truck when it broke on the way home from our ride/hike today. Just a blown fuse...
I better get going, my growing teenage son is starving to death, there are many dishes to do, and a bloody mary calling my name.
What a great day! I wish they were all like this.
(Wrote this yesterday, forgot to publish until this morning.)
4 comments:
Andrea, what were you thinking crossing the bog? (tsk, tsk!) You need to rest, girl! Any idea when they're going to give you the green light?
Probably when I go in on Wednesday. He just has to check that all the internal sutures are holding and everything is where it should be. I really do feel pretty good. :)
I'm all caught up! Took me a while, but I loved reading about your herd. I'm excited to see what the future holds for you and Duncan! Feel better soon. :D
Thanks!
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