Too hot to ride!

But we did anyways! Saturday the storms moved through. By the time they passed it was very hot and humid. MIL had brought Sis back over so I asked her if she wanted to go for a ride. We decided if our horses (and ourselves) are to survive Texas in November we’d better not complain about the heat too much. DH and Chase passed on joining so MIL and I saddled up and headed out for the 7 mile loop.

I had troubles before we even got out of the driveway. My mom put little American flags on the mailbox so we had to do a bit of bending before they were accepted. Down the road we headed and then we hit another mailbox with wavy spooky stuff (ornamental grass), so we bended and did rollbacks again until it was no longer spooky!

I know, I know, Lucy isn’t normally this spooky you say………..well I wasn’t riding Lucy! I decided to try my luck on Cat. I told my dad I’d either be back in 5 minutes if she was really bad, 3 hours if she was good or he’d hear them call for life flight. I just looked back and May 3rd was her last ride! I knew it had been a while but wasn’t sure how long for sure.

I did very little groundwork before we headed out since it was so warm. I was a bit worried she’d spook at the cattle but she really didn’t care about them at all. Cars didn’t bother her a bit either. It took her some time to learn to carry me up/down hill since we’ve only been on level ground so far. We walked, trotted and cantered. What I really liked is that she wasn’t worried at all about Sis getting out ahead of her (this didn’t happen very often because Sis was moving at the speed of mud). Anytime she’d get too close to Sis we’d circle. Pretty soon when I’d pick up on the rein she’d just slow down.

We cantered up the big hill and I thought she was going to die! She was ready to let Sis continue on while she just walked but I pushed her through it. She got very nervous when we went past a herd of horses (2 ponies & 1 horse) but I just continued to circle her until she settled and that didn’t take very long. We passed a few more horses along the way and by then she was so tired she barely looked at them.

By the time we were on the road home she was moving with her head hanging on the ground. We were getting ready to pass another place with a horse and dog so I was prepared – or so I thought. She spooked and jumped forward like something bit her on the butt. I gained control (it really wasn’t that bad – just took me by surprise) and then the dog came out. I was surprised at how nervous the dog made her but we just continued to circle towards him and she finally relaxed.

I was VERY pleased with her behavior. When she did get nervous – it didn’t take her long to settle and come back to me.

Here are a few pics from the end of the ride and my tired pony. She had NO problems standing tied to the patience pole when we got done.

I wish she was this dark! She was just "that hot"!



Hasn't she grown up?





ETA: Ride 10