One more ride before surgery

So.... I couldn't resist. I mean.. .come on! It was a beautiful day! I didn't get to ride Sunday because I was desperately trying to finish all of the acupuncture stuff. And it was such a pretty day. Then Monday I worked. And then today... I had to pack and finish up all the things I needed to do. And it was supposed to rain all day. And it did rain in the morning. And I got a lot done. And then the sun came out... and Laura messaged me and also needed to borrow my saddle... and Mike was going to bike night... so.. I went for it! I can finish packing tonight! 

 

*Gahhhhh he is just STUNNING!*

I opted to do a hack in the woods and I felt a hair bad because I told Laura I wanted to gallop and play so... she was going to dressage anyways, so she did that first. But then she finished before me because I was later getting to Ashland than she was so I told her that I would do my gallop and then join her. So it worked out. Dan and I hacked around and took whatever path he wanted out towards the gallop field. It was pretty slick in spots so we couldn't trot as much as I wanted to. But we had fun. And then we hit the fields and did some gallops. They were probably fast canters. He never kicked it into that extra gear. But that's okay. It was still good for my soul. Ahhhhhhhh

 

Then we met up with Laura and Smartie. And Dan was a bit silly and kept getting a bit left behind so he would trot to catch up. We happened to be in the hay field behind Ashland and he trotted and I guess slipped in the mud maybe (although it wasn't that muddy there but was a little slick) and he about fell on his face. I think the front and hind end both wiped out at different times. It was a bit scary for a second. And now I'm extra freaked out about his neck... and maybe a bit grateful that perhaps he really is mildly/subtly neuro and the surgery will really help. But seriously dude... either walk faster or trot sanely to catch up! 

 

After we dropped Laura off at the barn we hacked back out to the xc field and did another little canter. And then, while I was super tempted to pop a few XC fences.. with the grass being slick and him already wiping out, I was wise and didn't. But we did head up to the stadium ring. I couldn't resist it. We hopped over a few fences. They were probably novice with a few oxers. We popped over a few and had fun. I really didn't want to get off. But Laura needed my saddle so... we took the long way through the woods behind stadium to go back to the trailer. And then we sat and chatted with Judy for a moment. Then Laura had driven up so I had to get off. :) It had been 78 minutes or so in the saddle, so.. fair enough. Plus I still had packing to do!

 

I gave him a good rinse as he was pretty sweaty. It was mega humid after the storm. I was half tempted to go back to the lake but figured it was a long walk and not nearly as much fun without company, so we opted not to. 

 

Ahhhh... totally worth it!