River's Day Out

River, the big beautiful bay from McCullough Peaks HMA in Wyoming, and the supermodel at the top of the blog, got to go ponying out on the trail today.  The sun was out for the first time in a million years, and it was warm, so naturally we hit the trails.  I don't mean to imply that we only ride when the sun is shining, because, believe me, we ride in all kinds of weather, all year 'round.  But it sure does feel good to be horseback in the woods when the sun is pouring it's warmth down and making the earth all steamy and luscious.

This was River's second time being ponied, and each time has been behind a different horse, with different horses bringing up the rear as well.  She did great on both rides, with no spooky silliness, and we threw everything at her that we could.  We crossed the creek, went through huge mud bogs, up and down slippery clay slopes, across fat logs, through thick brush, across bridges, under the high-tensile power lines, and even past the scary horse-eating culvert and she never even blinked.  The only thing that got her attention was a pair of deer behind us as we were heading back to the trailer.  She let out a couple of big, loud snorts, which spooked the saddle horses, but it was nothing very eventful.

Next time we go out we'll saddle River and ride her.  She does great in the arena, so we don't anticipate any problems.  We happened to bump into her previous owner today, who was riding with a group of his pals.  He was happy to see River and said that she looks great.  Which of course she does!