Fall Ride

The RAC (Ride A Curly contest) is hosting a mini October contest which is a one month version of the year long contest-- ride and keep track of your hours. We have been able to get out almost every day, in between rain and rain. The temperature has hovered consistently in the 50's, but when the sun shines-- beautiful riding weather!

October 1st- to start the contest, we went out with me on Keri (of course- who else? ) and Zoe on Teasel. These two love each other and are a great team. We started out in the indoor, since it was raining and dark clouds loomed in the distance promising more. After about 25 minutes of that-- we looked at each other and said-- let's just ride in the rain.. we needed some fun time. Turned out, after a few minutes, the sun came out and the ride was gorgeous. Since this was unplanned I did not bring my camera. We stayed on the roads since the trails are VERY wet. The trees were bright with color and the roads littered with leaves already fallen... I wish I had brought a camera-- We had a spectacular refreshing gallop -- and as soon as we were home and horses untacked, it rained HARD !!

Monday, we decided one of our lesson horses needed a break. Sudie seemed sad and cranky- a good trot down the road will rejuvenate her spirits. This time I did bring my camera- since I had it in the barn already anyway.

I always say-- the first mile of our ride is fraught with obstacles.. after that-- it's home free. There are always ducks and herons flying up from the brook, turtles slipping off their rock, people raking their yard (horses just hate that rake rake rake sound it seems). And along the first mile for some reason, homeowners are obsessed with lawn ornaments of all varieties-- spinning and stationary. Today we were treated to the seasonal Halloween ornaments.

We call Sudie our Curly couch- she is wide and short. Her Wintec changeable gullet saddle takes the widest girth. This is one characteristic that makes her a great therapy horse..there's a good Str-e-e-e-e-ch for your legs. She has a delightful forward smooth trot- so she makes a super "road" horse. OYY Sweet Bee, who just returned to us last week, is a daughter of Sudie's. She is a chunky pony, but did not inherit the couch gene. Her son, OYY Buster Brown- who will turn 2 on the tenth of October-- takes after his Dad (Mead's Chocolate Chip).. he's more of a "horse". They all have Sudie's wonderful temperament though.

We ducked into an easy trail that looked dry for a break from the road. Sudie is no bushwhacker, she prefers a simple straightforward by-way. But she can handle a wide easy trail such as this one.

We had a great ride, the colors are not so vivid today, after the rains, but still quite inspiring. I love the way we can ride in and out of the sun and the shadows of the leaves on the road.

Here we are, on the way home, passing Uncle Reino's water garden.

Quite a difference from the last photo I posted of the same scene back in the winter !

We returned home refreshed and Sudie's mood uplifted considerably!

Enjoy your day ~