The Almost Perfect Day

The original plan was to have this entire week off of work and to get things done around the farm and to spend time with the SO.  Plans changed when he made a last minute decision to spend more than half of the vacation off playing with cars in another state.  Faced with being alone for vacation plus being alone next week when he is out of town, I decided to work Wednesday and Friday so at least I wouldn't be bored out of my mind.  As a result, yesterday was my play day!

I drug myself out of bed at the normal time of 6am and went with RB3 and her friend yard saleing.  It has been a long time since I have been yard saleing and had a good time.  I got some really good buys, some dishes for the dogs, new water bowl for the dogs, a Columbia jacket in excellent condition for only $5 and a pair of mud boots for me to wear out.  Score!

I got home just in time to grab the TWH and have him groomed when RB3, her friend and another friend arrived with their horses to go on a trail ride.  There is a Rails-to-Trails trail less than a mile from my house that everyone had wanted to ride so we picked the trail up and had a great time.  The weather was perfect, mid 60's, very little wind, very few bugs, slightly overcast and we didn't meet anyone else on the trail.  The TWH was perfect, being ridden on the buckle most of the ride.  He did a nice flat walk/running walk when asked and was able to maintain that gait even when everyone else was trotting. He trotted out nicely when everyone wanted to really move out and didn't even offer to pace.  He didn't spook when we went under the interstate (4 different times too) and while he was very nervous, he didn't spook when we went through the concrete tunnel that had railroad tracks overhead.

We rode for a little over an hour and a half before needing to turn back so one of the gals could leave by 530p.  It worked out well as just as we arrived at my house it was just starting to sprinkle and about a half hour later it was raining so everything was timed perfectly. As we turned back, however, RB3 asked to switch horses.  She has just purchased a new halflinger to replace Kota and wanted me to "try her out" and let her know what I thought of the new horse.  She is a pretty horse, blind in her left eye and is pretty dead to aids from being used as a kids horse.  She doesn't steer well, doesn't know leg aids and has an obsession with riding *just* off the trail.  She is also much slower and stayed at the very back, sometimes way back, the entire ride.  I had to keep her in a trot most of the ride which wouldn't have been too bad but I wasn't what I had planned on.  Her saddle is also quite uncomfortable for me, it has a very flat, square seat with little padding and I have actual bruises on my seat bones as of this morning.

At one point I asked if she wanted to trade back so she could have her horse and she said "You really want to trade back?", looked at me and walked the TWH off.  A little later I mentioned it again and she said "But I like Natra".  I thought "Well, yeah but I like him too which is why I rode him".  I ended up riding the halflinger the entire ride back and didn't really enjoy the ride back.  RB3 lead the way and let the TWH gait most of the ride so everyone was trotting which meant I was having to make the halflinger really move to keep up.  At one point I yelled out that the walking horse should walk for a while and RB3 laughed and slowed down, but only for about 5 mins before letting him go again.  I was very frustrated and annoyed and to top it off, when we got back, RB3 grabbed a huge handful of my treats and gave them to everyone but the TWH.  She did this without even asking.  Normally it wouldn't bother me, as I encourage treats when a horse is good but it just really rubbed me the wrong way.

After everyone left and I was cleaning stalls, RB4 called and she invited me over for dinner so I had dinner with her and her husband. It was a really nice way to end the day, hanging out with a friend and some food.  When I got home I brought the horses in, fed everyone and went straight to bed.  Since it was in the 50's outside I turned on my heated mattress pad and slept so heavily that when my alarm went off, I didn't realize it and the dream I was having had me saying how warm and tired I was.  Ha!