Long Miles

Whew, ready to write about my weekend! Saturday dawned cool and cloudy, a blessed change from some of the blazing hot cloudless days we'd experienced in the week leading up to it. DH was anxious to get out and about. I was less anxious (because my default setting on weekends is couch potato, haha), but amenable to doing something. His vote was riding bikes. My vote was riding horses. We compromised by going to a trail that caters to both! 

DH was off on his ride before we even finished tacking up, so I neglected to get a photo of him. 

Naturally Ruby and I couldn't keep up with him (and he usually does 15-30 mile rides when he goes out on his bike), and while I was totes fine with riding alone, my mom was also jonesin' to get out and about. So I tossed Trigger in the trailer for her, and she met us at the trailhead. This was Trigger's first big outing of the year, and the goal was to get him some long, slow trail miles. With his recent (mild) COPD diagnosis, I wanted to see how his management changes (soaking his hay, a supplement, and switching to night turnout on grass) might have helped his ability to work without coughing. We ended up riding a little over 7 miles, 90% at the walk, and he only coughed once -- when we were trotting by someone mowing grass, throwing lots of dust up in the air. He and Ruby were both puffing a little by the end of the ride (we got sprinkled on, and the humidity had gone up exponentially), but I was pleased to see how well he handled the ride.

Plotting about how to grab snacks on the road. 

Ruby was also a total rock star (which is her default setting). She powered down the trail, crossed wooden bridges, didn't bat an eyelash at the dogs/bicyclists/tractors/weird things on the side of the trail. She gave one particular mailbox the hairy eyeball (IDK what the issue with it was, it looked like every other mailbox, maybe it was haunted by a demon?), and she was tentative across some pavement (most of the trail is gravel), but nothing particularly sassy. She was super excited to trot, and some of the external stimuli got her worked up enough that the trot was UP. The hang time was incredible, and I just giggled like a child as she fancy pranced down the trail.

A ladybug hitching a ride on Trigger's head.  

We saw plenty of wildlife, including a fox running down the trail, and a turtle!

Turtle friend. We very carefully walked around it, haha. 

Excited about, something? Maybe the lawnmower? haha. 

Eventually we ran into DH on his way back to the trailhead, so we reluctantly turned around and let the horses walk back. They both worked up a good sweat, and enjoyed getting hosed off at home. It was a good outing to get a baseline for both horses, and put in some relaxing miles. Now we need to get out to the more fun trails!

After we got the horses settled, we headed over to my mom's for some chores around the house she needed help with, then back home for chores at our own house. It was a super long day, and Sunday I was a bit sore, so I was glad the rainy day gave me an excuse to bum around. It was the perfect kind of rain, super slow and steady, soaking into our dry, dry ground. My grass was so excited! The horses were also super tired, which was entertaining, as I got multiple pictures of yawning and sleepy ponies. 

Fired up the smoker for the first time this year, and made some EXCELLENT pulled pork. Yum. 

SO TIRED.

EXHAUSTED.

OMG CANNOT KEEP EYES OPEN. 

Also tired. Barn cat life is ROUGH. 

So much napping. 

All the napping. 

Sundays are for sleeping.

Worn out. 

She's beauty, she's grace.... haha. 

These two are always grooming each other but any time I get close enough for pics, they stop and come over for attention. So enjoy this super grainy zoomed in video, lol.