How could I possibly let it go without getting in a ride? Okay, so I had accepted I wouldn't be able to ride for another two weeks. That was before my daughter sprained her ankle, rendering her unable to ride for at least ten days. It was a calculated risk, but it was time to take it. I've been finding myself unwilling to bother to get out of bed at a reasonable hour in the morning. With little else to do with my day, I was napping an inordinate amount. I needed a change. I needed to ride.
I changed into a pair of riding tights, and Team Fluffy lost their collective minds. They just jumped all over the place and couldn't wait. Especially after they saw me pick up my purse and drinking water. Then they knew we were going in the truck to get some real trail time in. I walked out to the truck, eagerly led by three dogs. Usually I'll get Hoss loaded before I put the dogs in the truck. Today that really wasn't going to happen. They were so excited to get going I had to let them get in before I could hook up the trailer.
Once I got the dogs loaded, I turned the truck around and hooked it up to the trailer. I looked over to the pasture, and there was Hoss, ears pitched forward, nearly as eager to go as the dogs. I'm pretty sure if I'd just opened the pasture gate, he would have trotted on over and gotten on the trailer by himself.
I'll admit my shoulder was aching pretty badly. I had spent the morning cleaning the kitchen and taking out the copious amount of recycle that had accumulated in the house. Probably doing all I did today and riding was overdoing it just a bit. I did take the time to ice my shoulder before we loaded up.
As the title of my post proclaims, what a lovely day. It was beautiful out. Perhaps I am somewhat more inclined to appreciate the day simply because I got to ride. It's been over six weeks since I've ridden Hoss. I'm very glad we got such a great day to do our first ride back.
I didn't want to take a long ride. With my shoulder still recovering, taking a short(er) ride was a better choice. So we went down to Hollenbeck Canyon. I figured a quick eight mile ride was just the ticket.
The dogs were thrilled to pieces to get out. When I let them out of the truck, they took off so quickly I lost sight of them for a moment. Confident they wouldn't get too far away, I unloaded Hoss and got him ready to go.
I was prepared for a little bit of a wild ride. Having been so long since Hoss has been truly out, I was pretty sure he'd give me a hard time. I am happy to report he was pretty well behaved. After a momentary threat of taking off, he really settled down well. I think he's lost a little bit of fitness in the past weeks. We did do some trotting, but not much, and we ran half way up the big hill, but for the most part we were content to walk. This was good for the dogs, too. They've definitely lost a bit of fitness.
By the end of the ride, my choice to take a short slow ride first was shown to be a good one. My shoulder was really aching by the time I loaded Hoss back in the trailer. I called the local pizza place and drove to get dinner rather than try to make something. All in all, it was a good day, and I can't express how glad I am that I got out there and rode my horse.
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