That is why I have a horse.

(From this spring)

Yesterday I took a friend out to the barn to go riding. I hadn't been aboard Hampton in a week and wanted to see how he was doing. I briefly lunged him ... and at first he looked stiff. Like mostly in the right hock. But he worked out of it quite nicely so I decided to go ahead and ride. He felt WAY better than he looked on the lunge. Worked mostly on trot-walk transitions, and back and forth in the trot. Played with some shoulder in as well. It all felt good. I tried a little bit of canter. The right lead felt better than it has - but I did let him go forward in a more bounding canter than usual. Left lead was ... eh. Still wonky. So I ended it on a canter transition - first 3 strides were good - back to trot, stretchy circles to end the session.

Chiro comes out tomorrow so we'll see what she says.

After our ride, we went out for a trail ride around the property. Once we reached the big open hay field I let Hampton go for a little hand gallop. SO FUN! He comes right back to me when I ask and seems to really enjoy himself. That is why i have a horse.

After we put our horses up and I fed Hampton, we hung out with others from the barn for a cookout. Nice and relaxing, good food, friendly horse people. At about 6ish, we all decide we should go on a trail ride. Soooo I tacked Hampton back up. By the time 4 of us hit the trails, it was almost dark. We quickly found ourselves out in a wide open hay field in the pitch dark.

Hampton was an ANGEL.

He found a great rhythm and marched along like an old pro. A twilight trail ride with my 3 year old? That  is why I have a horse. I am so glad I switched barns, it would have been considered reckless to do something like that at the foo-foo dressage barn. It was really special to watch the sun set from the back of my horse. I think in the midst of training and trying to reach our goals, we all need to remember why we have a horse. I felt like a little kid again. I needed that.