Evening Rides

I took my older niece out riding last night. I was on Cruiser and she rode my sister’s horse, Ranger. All went well for most of the ride. She is really mastering posting. On the ride home, we just walked, so I suggested she practiced her hands. She needs to keep them steady with even contact. She is such a conscientious student—she practiced all the way home until she fell off.


When we were crossing the river, which was very low and slippery, Ranger slid a bit in the back and started to fall. A better rider may have been able to stay on—but at least she didn’t throw him off balance and cause him to fall, too. I didn’t see it until she was sitting in the water and Ranger was walking towards us. I got off, but not in time to reach Range’s reins. He walked right by Cruiser, up the river bank and happily for us—turned the opposite direction of home when he got to the top. By now, my niece was up and walking towards us. (Unhurt but soaked.) I sent her ahead while Cruiser and I blocked the path towards home. Ranger was munching a patch of grass that he has probably had an eye on for years. My niece took the carrot that was in her pocket and slowly approached, stretched out her arm and Ranger traded his freedom for a piece of carrot.

I rode Cole in the outdoor arena—first time in a couple weeks or more. It finally dried out enough. Well, the stables next to us had 6 horses turned out, and they were running all around because of the bugs. There was someone riding there and someone cutting grass. We didn’t get much accomplished. A few times, the mower hit something and that spooked Cole. He did try to run once when the other horses ran and he didn’t pay much attention to me. Overall, he did better than I thought he would with the distractions, but it still wasn’t as much fun as it usually because of them. That’s just how things go…