Hiya Sweetie,
Woke up to an early alarm again, had Flash loaded up and ready to go by a little after 8:00. We headed down to Tidewater, arriving just at 8:30 as the LD's were leaving in the Gator Run Ride. The plan today was to once again accompany Jo and Nikki and hopefully be a calming influence on her. By the time we checked in, vetted (I was astonished that Flash did his trot out just fine!) and saddled up, it was nearly 10:00 when we hit the trail. We didn't get very far before Jo decided Nikki was misbehaving and got down to walk her on a lead. That went on for a couple of miles. We finally hit water, and Jo was trying to figure out how to get around it when I kind of got a little frustrated and told her to just get on her damn horse. I pointed out that the only lesson Nikki had learned so far was that all she had to do was jig a little, and Jo would get down and she wouldn't have to carry her anymore. What can I say, everyone once in awhile, a little butt-kicking is in order. Well, she got back on, and lo and behold, actually made it through the puddle following Flash. She would have occasional periods where she would be fine, but then jig some more, but toward the end, she was about as settle as she could be. I could tell she just wanted to go faster, but Jo isn't ready for that yet, and doesn't think Nikki is either. Anyway, by the end of nine miles, Flash was so frustrated with the slow pace that I decided to do the same loop again and let him go as much as he wanted. He has been very patient over the last two days, but he got pretty bunched up toward the end. I let him eat for a minute, got myself a bottle of water, then we headed out on the trail at 1:05. I asked the timer to mark it, even though the intro rides don't time themselves, I was just curious. So Flash and I headed out the second time, and this time we went like gangbusters. He gaited and cantered for over five miles, then slowed down a little bit, but not for long. It was a beautiful day but it was starting to get warm but with a nice breeze, so I didn't mind. Then when we were about a couple of miles until the end, a woman on an Arab came cantering up behind us, and Flash took off like a rocket! He was NOT going to let that Arab pass! I didn't realize he still had so much gas in his tank, but he gave it everything, right up into a gallop, all the way back to camp! We ended up with a time of 1:20 for that second 9.5 miles, so I was very happy with him for that. I unsaddled him and cooled him off, and after a couple of tries, managed to get him pulsed down to 60, took him through the vetting where he got almost all A's again (a B on his gait, but he did his impulsion test perfectly again, yay!) and we got out completion, though I'll only get credit for the 10 miles and not the almost 20 that we actually did. Not worried about the credit though, this was all about HIM getting to do what he wanted for a change. I hung around and chatted for awhile before heading back camp, got him settled down (and when I looked awhile later, he was laying down, not surprisingly!), as I did likewise. Dinner, TV, hot tub, shower, tea and cookie, and I'm ready for bed! Good night, my darlin'! Love you!
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