Family Time

36 minutes - 0.76 miles - Rhulain, Bill & A

Love this picture of Morgan's eye ... Love the sunset's reflection

Asked Bill to hold Rhu for a second and then realized how cute they were together ... her ears were all perked up and she was snuggly.

Bill didn't let go of the lead rope until we were headed back home.  Hmmm.  

Bill took a few pics of Rhu and I together.  I was whispering in her ear that I loved her way more than Bill did, and she stuck her tongue out at Bill.  Coincidence?  Perhaps.

Mornings with a Morgan means mornings that start with a smile

23 minutes - 0.87 miles - Morgan

Morgan leaves quite a mess while having her morning snack  

Snacks at the half way point means the ears start twirling

Heading home I finally managed to catch Morgie with her tongue partially out

Sky Shots

28 minutes - 1.05 miles - Morgan, Bill & Zeus

From last night's walk ...

Bill and Zeus at the beginning and at the half way point

Merely 12 minutes elapsed, but drastic changes in light

A study in ears

Morgan's ears as we left the property, at the half way point, after 0.75 miles, and at the gate after our walk

Morgan walks with her tongue sticking out ... cracks me up.  Whenever I try to take a picture of her like this, she stops walking and lifts her head.  I handed the phone off to Bill and he was able to capture her little bit of tongue.  :)

Moody Ride

Thursday, August 7th  Left at 7:31 pm  Home at 8:27 pm  92°
Solo

A full moon between Morgan's ears

Bloody hot.  I am so sick of temperatures over 100 and we still have at least one, maybe two months left of this "delightful" weather.  Also, the sun is setting earlier, so now I have to leave the house as soon as it gets close to 90 degrees.  Weather is wreaking havoc on Morgan's mane ... she has dandruff. *sigh*

Mounting from a giant spool ... Notice Morgan's opinion? Yep, she's sticking out her tongue

Morg seemed interested in the spool that we got for the goats to play on, so I rode her over, let her sniff it, dismounted and remounted while standing on it.  She stood perfectly still while I stomped and wiggled it.  So we headed off the property for our ride.

The odd effects rain had on the street ... 

1st picture is from the left side of the saddle, 2nd picture is also from the left side, only 10 feet away.  Makes for some interesting footing

I asked her to trot through the desert parallel to the road so we could pretend bushes were poles or barrels and generally goof around.  The recent rains have had an interesting effect on the desert and washes that we normally follow are filled with debris, while new paths were created or older ones were deeper than last week.

Some of the delightful sights we encounter

We started to lose the light so we picked up the pace, but I was having trouble keeping her in a straight line.  She kept trying to stray to the right and wouldn't stay between my hands, she braced, so I made her stop moving completely.  Flex the neck a few times, move out in a walk, circle to the right, circle to the left, stop again, flex the neck, and then just stood for a moment.  Breathed nice and deep before asking her to move out.  Seemed to help her refocus.

Before and after ...

Just leaving the property the sun is shining, she's relaxed, and sticking out her tongue. Again.

On the way back, the sunlight has all but disappeared, she's dropped her head, and is moving along at a brisk pace

On the last stretch, she tried cutting corners and straying from the course I had set her on.  Took another 15 minutes to get her to move forward in a straight line.  We ended the ride by letting her stretch her legs and pick her path once we were back on the property.  

Looks like she may be coming in to heat again, or maybe it was the full moon, but this wasn't our best ride.... felt like we were fighting unnecessarily.  Might be time to ride Majesty for a few days and let her relax a bit.

Best Ride of The Year ... So Far

Tuesday, July 8, 2014 Left at 6:50 pm  Arrived home at 8:15 pm  89° - Rained earlier in the day
Morgan - Bill & Majesty (Arabian), T & Red, J & Beauty (appy), and N & TC (OTTB)

Meeting got cancelled, so an impromptu ride was in order.  Called T and invited her along.  She said her friends would meet us in the sand dunes.  In record time, we saddled up and headed out.

T & Red showing off their new "purple" gear

 Initially Morgan took the lead, but once we were close to the dunes we were overtaken by Majesty's spirited steps.

Majesty hadn't been out in a while, and with the smell of rain still hanging in the air, he seemed much more youthful than his 26 years.   He challenged any and all dunes, no matter how steep.

We located some puddles and worked on stepping around, in, and through them for a while.  

At first, Morgan and Majesty were reluctant, but they soon understood there were no horseflesh-eating animals in the puddles. 

Red and Majesty each conquering their own puddles of doom

Here Bill and Majesty claimed to be "King of the Puddles."  

No one challenged him for the title, and since our new friends arrived, we continued on to the dunes.   

Wandering through the sand dunes.  

Morgan and I trailed behind, quite content just to be out on such a wonderful evening

Morgan and I taking a moment in the huge puddle that we found in the sand dunes.  Love my Morgie!

Everyone wanted a chance to play in the long puddle and the horses were quite willing to join in the fun

Wasn't enough just to walk in the water ... much more fun to run!  

Red came out of this puddle with mud "freckles" caked up her back legs.  Simply adorable :)

Such an eclectic party: a Quarter Horse, an Appaloosa, a Thoroughbred, and an Arabian

There was no need to prompt everyone ... they were smiling and laughing the whole ride

Red shows everyone how she really feels about Morgan photo-bombing her

We parted ways here and meandered through the open desert for a bit

Home stretch with the sun setting.  Absolutely the perfect way to end the day!