Barefootin'

Last Saturday was our first ride of 2016. It's been four months!! It felt so good to be in the saddle; however, the boys don't have shoes on and they were less than happy about it. All of them tried to find the softest ground to walk on. Thankfully it's all pretty soft and wet.

We tried out our chinks! They are awesome. They kept us warm and dry and the branches that have overgrown the trail did not hurt. Shirley says she'll wear them all year. I don't think I will able to as I think they will be hot. The jury's still out on whether I will take them to New Mexico or not. I love the fact that our hostess says she rides in them every day because they make her "look cool!" I think we are totally going to like her.

The best news of all is about Alisa and Keota. After a year of recuperating, she rode her big boy and all was well! Yay! I know that it must have been hard to climb up and be calm those first few minutes. After all of my falls, I was able to get back on without a lot of thought--so less trepidation was involved. After my broken arm in 2014, I rode at least part of the way down; but when I got back on in Feb/Mar, four months later, I was more cautious for sure.

Not only was her injury way more serious than a broken arm, Alisa had to wait a whole year to, as Shirley would say, "Get back on that horse!" That's a lot of time for thinking and worrying. But she did it and he was good. Keota is super smooth and easy gaited, and although she loves Odie--her forever horse--he is a little rougher than Keota.

So we are all off to a good riding year. I hope we all have a "fall-less" year with lots of wet blankets.