Birthday Ride

Friday morning (since I was NOT at work, having been granted permission to try out a four-day work week at the school!) I went for a ride with a few friends to celebrate Judy's birthday. We rode the Ponderosa Loop with Jetta leading most of the way since they all declared they didn't want to have their butts videoed with the helmet cam! OK by me---Jetta likes being out in front!

It was a beautiful day for a ride, even a hint of fall in the air. The footing was perfect most of the way due to recent rains. It was great to ride "dust free" but when we came down the steep hill from the frog pond it was like trying to get traction on Crisco! Jetta got anxious and had a hard time keeping her feet under her. I got off and hiked down, leading her. That worked pretty well, and I got back on to finish the ride when we got to drier footing. The other horses (all older, experienced horses) handled it OK. Going up that hill may have been totally impossible! Slicker than slick!

Other than the slippery footing, the rest of the ride was great--Jetta powered up the mountain like a machine, and she went past the gates, boulders, etc. like any good trail horse would do. I'd have to say she's not really green anymore! Yes, she still needs some education, but it's mostly down to the dressage type training now. I continue to work on that on trail, but come winter, she'll get a lot of it in the arena, too.

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