First Ride '09

The best thing for the inside of a human is the outside of a horse...or something along those lines. Whoever said it was (is?) a wise person, because it's absolutely true.

We moved Estes up to Mom's a few weeks ago, but today was the first time I had a chance to get up to see my baby girl. Last week the weather was beautiful, in the 70s and each day was a wonderful spring day. Today, however, the weather sucked. I woke up to an inch of snow on the ground here in town, which I knew meant that there'd be a whole lot more up at Mom's place. I was right. However, when I called Mom, she said the sun was out and the wind was blowing away the snow. Yay, me!

I finally managed to crawl outta my nice warm bed, into my silk long underwear, and hauled my cookies up the hill. Mom hadn't lied, it was pretty. Still a bit on the brisk side, but the sun was shining and most of the snow had gone. I took my halter and camera out to the pen to gather up Estes. I'm a picture freak when it comes to Estes; she, however, sees the camera come out and gives me a look that says, "are you serious? Another picture?" I can't help it, I love my horse. So, I go out to the pen and pull out my camera to get a picture before our first ride of the year. The minute she hears me turn it on, she gives me the look and walks away. Ranger, however, heard the camera turn on and immediately started posing. I guess he thought that if I had a camera in my hand I couldn't catch him.

I did manage to catch Estes once I put the camera away and got her all tacked up and ready to go. There was a moment of hesitation on my part before I mounted up. What if she had "forgotten" what she learned from the Horse Master? I didn't have a longe line on her and I certainly didn't want to have to remind her of her lesson from Julie Goodnight. I shouldn't have worried; she stood like a champ while I not-so-gracefully climbed up. I would have been more graceful had whoever rode in my saddle last returned my stirrups to their proper settings. Instead, I looked like I was climbing up my horse rather than mounting her properly. Despite my less-than-graceful mount, she never flinched or showed any inclination to move until I got settled. What a great little mare I have!

I won't bore anyone with a step-by-step narrative of the ride, but it was amazing, as it always is, and I ended the ride in much better spirits than I woke up in. The mountains were gorgeous covered in snow, a sight I'm sure I'll miss in just a few short weeks, and there were even patches of snow we had to break trail through - always a good time.

Aw, heck, the computer's not reading my disk full of pictures, so I guess everyone's off the hook as far as oohing and aahhing over my pictures goes.