A Mother's Day Ride!

Deb and I headed to Greenland early in the morning. I woke up at 6:30am to get to Deb by 7:30-8am. I decided I really wanted to take Z alone so I was going to just load her into the trailer w/o the use of the panels. She loaded with ease and I played with it a little before closing the trailer door. She did not like me closing the trailer door, but I made the decision to get going. I thought about that decision the rest of the day. I hope I didn't do damage to our relationship.

The ride was fantastic!! I rode her in the rope hack and realized that she's not respectful enough of it when she wants to move out. She was more spirited than I've ridden in a while!! She wanted to gallop the first 4 miles, so I worked with bending her, but she was rigid and determined. I had to laugh, but I didn't like the disconnected feeling. I found a spot to just let her go. We cantered until she just needed to slow down.

It was a fantastic ride and I love my Anglo-Arab mare! She's so fun, so fast, she just wants to move long and hard. We rode about 13 miles and the last 3 miles or so, she still wanted to gallop! I hopped off and walked the last 1/2 mile, just to reward her and move my body a bit.

Deb and I decided to do the Mountain Mettle, a 30 mile endurance ride in June. I'll need to get a few more long rides on her to build her up, but she felt great today. If we're controlled, she should be fine for that ride.

She's still showing signs of frequent urination upon exertion. Today, it didn't happen until much later in the ride, but it did still happen. I have a feeling I need to keep building her endurance and try different saddle pads for her comfort. Her back did not seem sore, though. It's so bizarre.