And we have a GALLOP!!!!

This makes me ALL sorts of happy!!! 

 It was such a glorious day that I set out for a nice fun hack. No dressage :) (well, we did a teeny bit of giving to my legs while on the trail, but no official dressage). We headed out and there was a bunch of people playing in the XC field. Danny was so good. He got a little up but behaved himself while we walked through the field and into the woods. Once in the woods we trotted some and came upon a feral cat. It was a tortie so she sort of blended in. And she wasn't moving until we were just about on top of her. Dan was paying more attention to the field so he barely saw her until she jumped. He just skipped one step to the left and then carried on. :) 

We did a little canter up the hill and then down the slight slope. I was giggling at him. I was videoing with my phone so I only had one hand on the reins. And I guess he tripped so he was suddenly cross cantering and then tripped again. He was just so gangly and clutzy it was cute. I couldn't really help him out with only one hand so I decided to just come back down to the walk. With all that going on I didn't notice that Krista and Mary Jo were in the field behind Halfshire. So we all chatted briefly and they carried on their way. Dan and I trotted down the hill and since Krista said they would leave us be so we could get our gallop on... I decided to have a little canter in the field. Well... Danny was feeling good and apparently missing his friends so he tore up that hill!! Wheeee!!! A true gallop! And a little buck or two. ;) I got him stopped at the top of the hill and we turned around and headed back down to the bottom and then I tried the other lead. This time he flew up the hill and I couldn't quite get him stopped until the lane and cowpens. Hee hee. So much fun though!!!! And the boy does have a great gallop when he wants to. :) 

 As a reward I let him trot a bit towards where the others had gone and we caught up quickly. They let me hang with them and Danny settled and was quite polite for the rest of the ride with them. We made a small loop and then they headed back in. We went around and to the creek and then the lake. And then we headed back up home where we passed everyone that had been XC schooling. He kept his cool and hung with the whole pack for a few minutes. 

 We ended up doing 5+ miles and our top speed was 27.6 mph! :) Wheeee!!!!! I so needed that. And I'm glad to know that baby boy does indeed have a gallop.