Sunday, Nov. 11, 2018 – Hubby’s First on the Road Ride on Flash!

Well, the day of reckoning has arrived! All of our efforts for the entire year has led us up to this day; buying Flash, working him all summer to calm him down enough for Hubby, trying to build up Hubby's stamina so he could handle riding, all of it, came to fruition today! After a light fruit breakfast, I got the horses saddled up and ready to go. Apollo was positively ecstatic about going for a ride, and was being very calm so as not to mess anything up. Flash stood quietly as well, taking his lead from Apollo, a trend I trust will continue! I had spent a little bit of time yesterday schooling Flash on standing at the mounting stairs that they have here, and though it took a few tries, Hubby managed to climb on and get settled without much trouble. I mounted Apollo and off we went! At the suggestion of our neighbor Joanne, we headed out on the blue trail, then the yellow, then took the orange connector to the red trail, for a loop that lasted just about an hour, all that Hubby wanted to do today. It went perfectly! Flash stayed behind Apollo or stayed even with him for the most part, but did get ahead for a few minutes at a faster gait, making me have to jog Apollo to catch up. Hubby was great! This little horse has such a smooth gait, he was comfortable in the saddle the whole time, and only started feeling any ache in his hips during the last 10 minutes or so, so it was perfect! We did have a little problem getting Hubby OFF, however. He's riding an Aussie saddle that his kind of a high cantle, and his legs are his weakest link right now, so he had trouble getting his leg over. Thankfully, several people rushed over to help him, and he fell into the arms of a very nice young man who had the strength to help him gently to the ground. Obviously, that's something we need to work on! What a special day! We took the rest of the day off, as it started to cloud over, and by evening, the rain had started to come in. Apparently it's going to sock us in for a couple of days, which is fine, it equals enforced R & R for me, which I need, as I adjust to the slower pace of road life. SO HAPPY!

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