The Sister Cup

 The Sister Cup

Now that I have completed the Tevis Cup Virtual Ride, we still have one more goal--the Sister Cup.  Ellen doesn't have as many chances to ride, so she still has about 30 miles to go.  We are living vicariously through her.

Since I have been riding in the Sister Cup, we have been tackling the airplanes on the hill where they fly so low.  Dante is doing much better with them.  Last month, he nearly knocked over a hiker that walked past him as a plane flew over causing Dante to spin, but she got out of the way in time, and we all just laughed.

Dante has learned to ignore the fallen log with the honeybee nest.  Well, Shari and I tackled that without them first.  Bella really freaked out and refused to pass it--dancing in the typical Bella way.  Cole was worried and watched it for a minute and then carefully passed way on the other side of the trail.  We didn't even notice the bees--but the horses sure did.  By the time that Ellen had to ride Dante past it, Cole was able to lead the way.  Dante was just fine.

The Sister Cup has had a lot of cantering in it.  Ellen decided to work on cantering from a walk.  One ride, Cole was far in the lead, as always.  Ellen asked Dante to walk, did a half halt to gather him up and then asked for the canter.  He did  the hugest "Lambert Leap" ever--and then took off at a gallop!

Dante is a Lambert Morgan.  When Ellen asks him to trot out on the trail, she will hop up, shake his head and then trot off in his usual quiet, slow manner.  We call it the "Lambert Leap."  This time, he wasn't quiet and slow!  We got a good laugh.  The next time Ellen tried cantering from a walk, he was fine.  She did skip the half halt.

What else will the Sister Cup have in store for us?  Who can predict?  What we do know is that there will be many hours and many miles out on the trails in September--the best month for trail riding.

Shari finished her 100 miles, too, and she is joining us in the Sister Cup.  Why not?  She is like a sister to us.

It will be all over way too soon, but we are enjoying every mile of it!