Hey Sweetie!
Another good night sleep, woke up to a beautiful morning, started the day off with a load of laundry so that I would have nice clean sheets tonight. Did my usual morning chores and breakfast, and Patsy arrived just after 10:00, so we saddled up and hit the trail forthwith. Another gorgeous ride! Flash was much more sedate for the first several miles, we took turns on the lead, and he actually didn't pull my arms out too much, at least at first. We started on the Blue Trail which parallels the river, one of my favorite trails up here, then took the big purple loop before taking the speedy yellow back to camp. While Flash was more sedate at the beginning, once we were warmed up and started moving faster, he did his best to make out like it was a race. He was slightly more under control today, though, possibly because I tightened up his snaffle bit a little yesterday, but it was still a thrilling ride! Once we got going, we trotted/gaited for many miles, though I was able to hold him back from his strong desire to canter most of the time. Not that I mind, he has a lovely canter, I just didn't want to leave Patsy and Atlas (her other horse today) in the dust! We did just under ten miles, and enjoyed every minute of it! Rinsed off their well-deserved sweat and put them away, then chatted for a bit with Patsy before she headed out. Another wonderful day on the road! Brought in my laundry, took Apollo and Lola for a walk around the camp, and brought out Lola's pool and filled it, as she's been panting like crazy lately, even though it hasn't really been that hot. It made a difference, though, she's been much more settled this evening. Last night she was very restless, took her an hour to settle down for the night. My usual routine, off to bed soon! Good night, baby! Love you!

Hiya Darlin'!,
Well I did manage to get to bed reasonably early last night, and still slept until just after 8:00, so I guess my body clock is doing it's own thing! Nevertheless, I had to get up right away because my friend Patsy was coming down to ride with me, so I got my chores and breakfast done, and had just pulled Flash out of his paddock when she arrived, so the timing was perfect. We got saddled up, chatted with some neighbors who wanted to say hello to the horses, as well as a volunteer group that was putting in new corrals across from my site, tearing down the old wooden corrals and putting in pipe corrals with an 8' gate, which should be more convenient. I like the wooden ones, but they are rotting, as my repair job the other day proves. We finally got on the trail around 11:30, deciding to do about ten miles (turned out to be about eleven), so we took the orange trail, then a bit on the brown trail, until we picked up the yellow trail back to camp. We did very well for the first mile and a half while the horses were getting warmed up, the Patsy's horse Hero started a nice breezy trot, which Flash took as a challenge, and next thing I know, he's go, go, going again! I ended up having to get in the front or get my arms pulled out, but Patsy didn't seem to mind, she said she needed someone to push her, she's just been moseying all summer. We did a steady gait (with Flash doing a lot of bunched up canters, like a dressage horse!), and when we finally hit the yellow trail going south, I just had to let him run. So much energy! He's definitely ready to go! I'm almost tempted to enter him into the ride at Sandhills, just to give him a good workout. I'm convinced he could lead the pack! There's a lot of nice sandy trails out there, I'll just let him run when we check the trails. Once again, I kept an eye on him when we got back to camp, and he showed no signs of lameness or weakness of any kind. Despite it being a cool cloudy day, only in the mid-sixties, he had worked up quite a sweat, so I rinsed him off, of course, and Patsy did the same with Hero. After putting them away, we sat and chatted for a few minutes before she headed out and I settled down for the evening. This horse, Flash, is so much fun to ride!! What a great day! Love the trails here, loved the company, and love this horse!! Life is SO GOOD!! Good night, sweetheart! Love you!

Hi Babe!
What a fantastic day! Managed to get to bed reasonably early last night, had an excellent night sleep, read for a short while in the morning, then saddled up Flash to take a longer, faster test ride today, to see how his leg really is. He was so full of energy, he was like a different horse! After the first couple of miles as he got warmed up, he suddenly decided he wanted to go, go, go! I don't know if it was the cooler weather, the long layoff, or just that he was feeling frisky, but he insisted on gaiting and cantering for nearly five miles! Considering the trails here are mostly single track, hilly, windy, curvy and right through the forest, it was all I could do to hang on! I can't remember the last time he wanted to move that fast, but it's definitely been awhile. I didn't want to discourage him, he seemed to be having so much fun, and so was I! To make it even better, when I got him back to camp, I kept a careful eye on his weight distribution, and not once did he favor any of his legs. So happy, and relieved! I've got my old horse back. Whoohoo! Rinsed him off, then left him at the trailer for a few minutes while I fixed the gate on his paddock. The top gate screw had come out this morning because the post is rotten in the center, plus it was too high for the bottom bracket to fit into the lower gate screw, so I drilled a new hole farther down so that it would set on the bottom gate screw properly. Once that was done, I put him away, still keeping an eye on him, but there seemed to be no side effects to all his speediness today, thank goodness. So enjoyed myself! After awhile, I got Apollo out and took him for a walk around the camp loop just for exercise, and did the same later with Lola, who didn't bother to come with us the first time. At least I'm getting some walking in these days! Finally settled down for the evening to a new BBC series, Monarch of the Glen, based in Scotland, which is a lot of fun. I had started another fantasy series, Wheel of Time, but it was so violent and gory, I decided to pass on it. Anyway, planning on another early evening, and hopefully another good night sleep, now that the cold front has come through. Back to the perfect weather I always seek, seventies during the day, fifties at night! Loving it! Good night, my darlin'! Love you!

Hi Sweetheart!
Had a great night sleep, a slow morning, and then a short, three mile ride on Flash, just to see how his leg did. What a ride! He was fine and normal for the first couple of miles as we started down by the river just to see how it looked after last year's flood (it was fine!), then headed up the yellow trail. I just wanted to do a short ride, so we did yellow, then purple. At the last mile, though, as we were heading back to camp, he suddenly became very excited and started wanting to canter, even though it was woodsy, twisty, windy and hilly! Don't know what got into him, except that he wanted to get back to camp as quick as possible! I had to stop and circle him a few times just to get him to settle down. Guess his leg wasn't bothering him, was it? We got back, I rinsed him off and put him away, keeping an eye on his right rear hind the whole time and didn't see any indication of anything being off. Yay! Next ride, we'll go a lot farther and see how it holds up. Very glad it doesn't seem to be anything too serious, though it's probably too early to tell. Spent the rest of the day in my usual routine, though I took Lola for a couple of walks around the camp loop just for exercise, to keep from doing nothing but sit all day, and to give her a little remedial training. She's hasn't been coming when I call very well, so we did a little work on that today. Settled down for my usual evening, heading to be soon! Good night, babe! Love you!