About two weeks ago John said he'd like to ride a horse. Nothing makes a horse-crazy spouse happier than having the non-horse spouse mention this sort of thing, so after buying him all the right stuff either at Dover's or from Ebay, we went to Dooly County this morning. Jim and Grits have 12 horses at their place and I knew that there were several that would work for John's first ride since he left Ottawa when he was 15 to move to Alabama. He took a year of riding lessons when he was 14, so he has rudimentary skills. John's mount was Raffles. Raffles belongs to Grits and he's a great horse. He's not been ridden since last winter, but no bother. After tacking him up, John hopped on and off we went. Raffles is an old pro with years of fox hunting with the Ottawa Valley Hounds and eventing and he's certainly been there, done that, and is now using the saddle pad as a rag. Because he's barefoot, he was a little ouchy when the ground got rocky, but he didn't complain, just swerved off into the soft dirt or the planted field and kept on going. (When in the planted field, he walked ever so lightly so as to barely damage the soybeans there. He's a good boy. ;)
Here we are in the pecan orchard after the ride:
Here are Joanna and Jim. Joanna's on her Tennessee Walking Horse gelding, Saber, that she bred herself. Jim is riding Bailey, an absolutely wonderful Thoroughbred gelding.
Bailey has been with Jim about two months and he has just been fantastic. Best ground manners of any horse you've ever met and sensible as can be under saddle. I doubt he's been ridden in three weeks and he was happy to plod along at a beginner's pace, never getting antsy. I wish I could buy him for John.
John felt secure enough to trot a few times, so we did.
We rode a little over an hour and called it a day. It's brutally hot out there, so after untacking, we went upstairs to the air conditioned apartment over the barn and enjoyed a beer and the company of good friends and Leo, a very lovable dog.
There was a breeze that high up, but we couldn't sit on the deck and enjoy it because some wasps had taken over. I did linger long enough to get a wonderful video of Buddy wallowing in a mud hole. When it gets shaky right towards the end, know that there was a wasp trying to land on my head. ;p
That's Joanna and John you hear talking on the video.
My intention was to go grocery shopping this afternoon, but I'm thinking a nap may be in order. It's too damn hot to walk out to the truck as it's 96 degrees with 40% humidity adding up to a heat index of 101. Hooray for air conditioning.
Hope you're staying cool but still somehow managing to ride a horse. Maybe you're smart and summering in Canada. Much to my great glee, John enjoyed his ride and wants to do it again. YAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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