Saturday, April 15, 2017 – A Great Ride at Colt Creek

Another lazy morning, it's so quiet here, it's lovely to indulge in sleeping late! It was after noon before we started getting ready to go for our ride. Though the forecast had said upper 80's, it was just overcast enough to keep from heating up too much. Though we were staying in the State Park, we decided to risk taking Lola along, she listens well enough that I know she won't bother anyone. She's actually gotten in the habit of steering clear of any people or horses, going way off the trail until everyone gets sorted out, then rejoins us on the other side, a perfect trait for the trail, especially for those folks with horses that aren't used to dogs. She literally disappears long before we meet up! Though today, we didn't meet any other horses on the trail, we did pass a jogger, a couple of park rangers (who, thankfully, didn't say a word about Lola out the trail, maybe because she came to us instantly when I called her), and a family of folks picnicking and fishing at a pavilition, and who were evidently not used to animals, because when three of the kids saw Lola they started running away from her. Of course, she thought they were trying to play and started to follow them, but I called her back. When we got closer, I asked the adults if they wanted us to come and say hello, and they welcomed the teachable moment for the kids. One little girl was even brave enough to feed Clio a nugget! The rest stayed further back, but lots of pix were taken, and they seemed happy that we stopped by. Of course, that got us off the trail, and we missed a turn, which made us have to go right past a ranger building, so I stopped and put Lola on a leash until we crossed the road and started to head the last mile to camp. We made a great discovery today, though. Since our last ride a couple of days ago, where Hubby was getting short of breath often and we had to keep the pace really slow, today he brought along a bottle of 5-hour energy. Contrary to popular belief, it is NOT highly caffeinated, which would be bad for his heart, it's actually a vitamin B compound, similar to injections they give to provide more energy, to both people and horses. After the first trot, he got a little out of breath, so he drank half a bottle. Then, before he trotted and cantered her again, he would take a few deep breaths to get himself oxygenated. Since he always lags behind me anyway, we figured out that if he just prepared himself, then started off when he was ready, we could hear him coming from behind, and join him in a nice canter. He never got out of breath again the rest of the day, even though we must have cantered a dozen times! What a great ride! I'm so happy we solved the problem, because the last ride we took, having to go so slow was really frustrating for me, but whatever it takes to keep Hubby healthy, I'll do. Today, though, was fantastic! My horse tired out before his did, and even though he still kept shying at nothing along the way, we now have a path toward getting him over it, something we have never really been able to do before. By the time we got halfway through the ride, his horse had settled down to a lovely lope, also something that we've also never really been able to do before. This looks very promising for future rides! Of course, once we're away from Florida and back up in the mountains, the chances for canters will decrease somewhat, but, hey, we'll take whatever we can get! The ride was about 7.75 miles today, arriving back in camp around 3:30, just in time to have a chat with our neighbors, who were just pulling out. They had come in and tried to ride, but evidently were discouraged by the horseflies (which have hardly bothered us at all, thank you Bronco Fly Spray!) We chatted for just a few minutes before they departed, leaving Hubby and I alone again, naturally! We got the horses in, and started our evening, since it was just about beer-thirty anyway!

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