While my plan was to ride Flash today, I had no real route planned out, just that I wanted to take a different route to keep him (and me) from getting bored, so I headed up 134th Way N., crossing Indiantown Road and following the canal back along the WMA area. There's a new crossover into the neighborhood at the first turn, but I decided to wait to explore that on another day. I continued following the canal until I was going along the north end of Loxahatchee Slough. I had planned to do about 12-14 miles today, and when I saw a sign saying the actual Slough was only another 2.5 miles, after I'd only done about 4 miles, I decided to at least reach there. Then when I got there, I decided to go into the trails there, just for variety. Then I decided I didn't want to come back the way I came, so I headed east, then north along the main canal until I reached Riverbend Park! By now, I had gone more than the 14 miles I had planned, and still had another 5-6 miles home. I followed the shortest trail to the underpass under Indiantown Rd., and followed the trail back to Cypress Trails, and eventually home. All told, we went over 21 miles! Longest ride on Flash so far! He took it all in stride, keeping up his pace even when I didn't ask him to, and I even had to hold him back so as not to overexert himself. One time, he evidently decided he wanted to take a roll, and started to lay down on a slope. I jumped off, and then I think he realized he couldn't roll uphill, so he just sat there for about 20 seconds, then got right back up on his feet, apparently ready to keep going. I let him walk behind me for a while to give him a breather, and he walked very patiently and calmly behind me, which was great, as he usually tries to run past me. Eventually, though, I climbed back aboard and we carried on. By the time we reached the tunnel, he was too tired to react much, fortunately, and the rest of the ride was uneventful. What a fabulous horse! No complaints, no resistance! I even had trouble getting him to stand still when I tried to rest him, he insisted on keeping going. This horse loves to move! We finally made it home after five plus hours. He was ready for a nice rinse-off, and I gave him some extra hay for all his work. Frankly, I'm surprised I'm not more sore than I am, as I'm trying to condition myself for endurance as well. What a great day!
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