Stayin' On

Today was a great day! After bribing the horses with carrots, we saddled up and took off toward the Hennessey. Yesterday, Lynn and Shirley had some excitement. First they saw some illegal farming, but thankfully their friend told everyone on the mountain, "Nobody was to mess with women on horses." Okay. Kinda scary.

Secondly, someone pulled a "monster" of an old oak branch down onto the meadow cutoff we have been taking. Star whirled around and headed back toward the trail, but settled in to watch Lynn and Ziggy rodeo. Ziggy had whirled around and was crow-hopping in the ruts. Lynn was looking down at the hard, unlevel ground thinking, "I'm stayin' on." Finally, everyone calmed down and did a little snorting at the big monster, but managed to walk by it to the creek.

Today we had none those shenanigans. We had others kinds. Fun kinds. Sort of. We did the Hoop-de-do trail again. Brady is in good health and high spirits. We jumped gracefully over every log and as long as we were in the front he was happy. His head was up and Lynn said his tail was curled all the way over his back.

We rode upto the Bray house and down to a little meadow for a snack. Shirley went in the bushes to pee and scared up some cows who came flying out until they saw us. They didn't know what to do! Mouths open, eyes wide and bunched together for safety. Finally they recognized we were okay and they went to graze in the bushes some more. It was funny. Later Shirley worked on teaching Star to straddle a log so she could get on easily--that was funny, too.

Coming back on this trail is a more fun ride than going out. We trotted, cantered, and jumped. Jumping uphill is lots easier than downhill jumping. I felt more relaxed and comfortable than I ever had before. I told myself, not to get too comfortable. Sure enough, Brady, whose head kept getting higher and pace kept getting faster, decided to notch it up a little. Then we came to a sharp turn and he went one way and I wasn't quick enough. I was hanging over his left shoulder, one foot out of the stirrup, but I elbowed my way back on. Sheer willpower kept me on that time. (and maybe the boot stuck into his armpit!)

He was high on life. We got out in front and headed for the monster. Shirley reminded me that it would look different from this side. However, no one minded it. We went through the creek and Brady jumped us up onto the bank with ease. We were all just kind of ambling along, but somehow, Shirley and Lynn turned the corner around the berry bushes before us. Lynn called back and I said we were coming.

Suddenly, Brady realized that they were out ahead of us and running up the meadow. I swear both his front feet came off the ground and it was "Heigh Ho Silver!" Zero to sixty in nothing. We were flying. I have never gone that fast on him before. They had stopped to watch us and when we caught up and he stopped--urch, urch, urch on his front feet. This time I almost went off on the right side. I was hanging over his neck and head again. It was lucky because now my back is balanced--both side were torqued so I should be okay.

Lynn said she couldn't tell if I was scared or having fun. Well, it was a little of both.

Like I said, it was a great day--it was the epitome of a perfect summer morning in the country with the animals and friends you love. It doesn't get any better than that.

*Pictures coming soon.