three happy horses

Three happy horses were standing in the water, and we three owners were realizing how lucky we are. To have three nice horses and the time to ride them. To have these awesome trails right in our backyards. To have perfect weather with a breeze blowing off the lake. And to have great friends to ride with!

It was going to be a ride with just Christie and Friday, but Cheryl and Dune were able to join us, and we all had fun. No ride is without it’s interesting moments (scary log-octopuses trying to get Friday, Dune deciding the small mud patch was good to jump and buck over, Major running up on everyone when in the back) but all issues were dealt with (riding past the scary octopus, getting some correction about bucking, getting held back until he figured out he wasn’t going anywhere faster).

My favorite part was standing in the lake. We went to get the horses a drink, they all walked right up (even with scary waves) and we stood there, horses having a drink, talking like old friends do on trail rides. Major went in deeper so he could do his scuba-horse impression and we all just enjoyed our time together.

I think rides like this make me doubt ever being a really serious endurance competitor. It was nice to not have a plan, to just ride at a speed and distance we all wanted to do, to take time to eat grass and stand in the lake. I like that Major is in such good shape that we was barely sweating, and that we did almost every type of trail obstacle you could think of (mud, sticks, sand, water, rocks, granite slabs, ditches, logs, geese, airplanes, helicopter, runners, riders). These are good trail horses, and that is an accomplishment.