Majesty vs. The Log, Round 1

Monday, July 28th  Left at 6:41 pm  Home at 7:20 pm  85°
Rode with Bill & Majesty

Morgan waiting patiently for the ride to begin

We got home from work early and decided to see if we could find any puddles in the sand dunes to practice water crossings.  We dashed outside and tacked up ... I even put a breast collar on my darling Morgan in case we had to climb dunes to get to the puddles.

Majesty stares down the horse eating log

We started off by turning right out of the north driveway. Morgan was still acting a bit tender on her front hooves, so I moved her off the street and played in the desert next to the road. We came across the downed log and invited Bill and Majesty to join us in stepping over the obstacle.  Majesty took a long, hard look at the log before committing to going over.  Bill's quiet words of encouragement rather than pressure paid off in no time, and Majesty was stepping over it in both directions in a matter of moments.

Me, caught off guard and looking very messy ... Nice to see Morgan's head lowered

We continued down the road and turned North towards the salt flats.  Basically, we just reversed the path Morgan and I had taken on our last solo adventure. Not a drop of water to be seen anywhere ... you'd never know it had rained on and off for the last two days.

Headed to the salt flats

We ambled peacefully through the paths, crossing the salt flats, over sand dunes, and around bushes.

Top of the ridge

The sky was a glorious blue and Majesty kept a nice, easy pace.  Made for some relaxing riding.

Two wary horses eyeing the distance

Love that Majesty's muzzle and eye area become darker in the Summer

We turned towards the sand dunes where we had last seen puddles, but saw smoke rising up from someone's quad.  We heard another quad racing about, so we decided to skip our normal dunes and cruise on home.

Horrible photo, but I loved that it looks like Wasabi is whispering in Morgan's ear ... 

It also looks like Morgan is listening to her evil plans!

In Which I Don't Ride Morgan

Thursday, July 17th  Left at 8:40 pm  Arrived at 9:00 pm (approx)  94°
Rode with Bill & Majesty, T & Morgan, Me & Sundance

T sent me a text asking if she could ride Majesty.  I asked Bill, but he said he wanted to ride as well, so I offered Morgan to T instead.  I pulled Ms. Sundance out of the stall and had some serious trouble tacking her up.  She has a pull back issue, so I can't tie her off. She held still for grooming and the saddle pad, but once she saw the saddle, she took off and headed towards the east fence line and got herself stuck between the turn out and the fence.  *sigh*  I was able to turn her around and bring her back to the saddle.  Once it was cinched up, she dropped her head and I thought everything was going to be well.

Morgan snacking under the full moon on 7/11/14

I pulled out Morgan's headstall with the bit, but Sundance threw her head straight up. T came over and tried to help by sticking her fingers in Sundance's mouth, but no luck. Bill came over and all three of us tried, but after 10 minutes we had to admit it probably wasn't going to work.  Bill reminded me that she had come from a dude string for vacationers and probably had very negative experiences with people pulling on her mouth.I switched over to the bitless bridle and she dropped her head right in and opened her mouth just as polite as could be.

Same picture without the flash ... love how the moon looks like it's resting just above her back

All three of us rode out the North driveway and down the street before turning back towards the house.  At the intersection we turned left and went to the next intersection,  Halfway to the intersection Sundance decided she wanted to be in front.  Ok.  We turned back and let them trot a bit before making them walk down the driveway to the tack shed.  

Bill and T continued riding for a bit longer while I untangled Sundance's mane and groomed her some more.  Everyone came back and untacked.  Short ride, but it was nice to see Ms. Morgan carting someone else around in the pitch black and doing so very well.