Not much to talk about right now, as it has been raining non-stop or showering if nothing else for a while now. We are just about at the Ark-building stage :) I did get a chance today to get Storm out. I decided I was going riding no matter what, and when I went to Trinidad to get him, the sun was out and sky starting to turn blue. So I hooked up the trailer and loaded Storm and headed for Arcata park, about 20 miles from Trinidad. It is a pain, but the footing is good (lots of gravel base on the old logging roads and even many of the single track trails) and under the big Redwoods, any rain is half as bad as in the open. Of course by the time I neared Arcata, the sky was turning dark and the rain came down...I was going to be meeting my friend Karin, who was bringing and riding my Morgan/QH mare Hoanna (she's a great "caretaker" horse that most anyone can ride) and with that motivation, the rain didn't deter me. When I got to the parking area, Karin came over to my truck and we sat inside and chatted until the worst of the rain stopped. We unloaded, did a quick brush down and tacked up the ponies. Storm was acting quite enamored with Hoanna (nickering a bunch and oogling her), so I had to get on his case more then I normally ever do. Usually he just ignores other horses, even mares, but I guess love was in the air... Maybe Hoanna was secretly flirting with him (no obvious signs of heat or paying any more attention to him, than she does any other horse she meets). It was actually good in a way, as I haven;t found cause to have to correct him and get his attention back on me from a mare, and it was good to see what he'd do when he was "bad" (relative for him of course, it was not that he was dropping or otherwise getting really excited..just "talking her up" and not paying attention to me is all). He was pretty good with stopping the nickering and getting focused back on me when I would correct him (using voice, and circling him/yielding hindquarters/making him work), and he pretty quickly caught on to just a voice correction alone. Good boy!
Once on the trail, we mostly walked (lots of good hills here, so the heart rate can get up without having to run around much, and Karin is more of a mosey rider, which is fine :)) and did some gaiting (trotting for her). He was gaiting REALLY WELL! I am still so excited about this...the ONLY difference is the bodywork he got before the ride. He has not offered to pace (unless really tired) and on this ride, he only step paced once going down a hill. Other than that, he was runwalking or doing a wonderfully fun rack. I want to get out to the beach with someone that wants a little more speed riding, and work more on his gaiting out there...I will redo our gaiting video then as well, and show how nicely he is moving now... Hope for good weather on Thursday, as my friend Vanessa's b-day is then and we want to go riding for it :) She can take some videos then as well...
So anyway, the weather was on and off showers for the 1 1/2 hrs we were out, but I only got somewhat wet...full chaps are a wonderful thing for keeping warm and pretty dry...though the winter holiday food and less riding made it...errrr....a tad hard to put them on ;) Course those ARE the same chaps I have owned since 8th grade or so...how many ppl can wear 8th grade clothing when they are 31?? :)
Here is a "retro" picture from that time (thanks to the Facebook retro week I dug it out of my collections...). Those same chaps are much more faded, worn, and dirty, but still very compfy to ride in (well, except when I first got in them today, LOL...they stretched out a little after riding though...)
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