Woods

This morning I met Team Big Foot to ride the trail at Arrowhead and as usual, we had a fantastic ride. I am so lucky to ride regularly with these women because not only is it fun to ride together, we have great conversation. Today I learned that downhill skiing, a sport I know nothing about, is counter intuitive to cycling in that you lean the opposite way in turns. So, that pretty much clinches it for me: not taking up skiing cause at this advanced age, I don't think I can train my muscles to do something different. Cycling it is! Except for when it's horses or running or hiking.


There was a box turtle in the middle of the trail and I stopped to move her out of it and then when Kim came along, we decided to take the turtle's picture. Of course, we pose her on a mountain bike. It's a well known fact that all turtles love mountain biking because even when grinding up the steep hills at Arrowhead, they still are able to go faster than when not on a bike.

We're going to have to lower that seat post if that turtle is going to clip into the pedals.

Then, I went to the farm and rode India. She has forgotten the lovely, working trot she had in South Carolina, well, she'll keep that pace for about five strides and then she wants to ZOOM around the arena, but we're working on it. Her canter is also zoomy, but not scary, so we're working on that, too. She also has decided that she wants to buck when asked to canter, so add that to the list of things we're working on. Thankfully, her bucks are very smooth.

After some arena work, we went down the driveway again to practice riding off alone, as she'll have to do in the Ride and Tie in May. She balked at the very beginning, going backwards, but after about a good minute of kicking and changing the backwards into sideways, she decided that forward was an option and off down the driveway she went. She likes to weave down the drive, almost bouncing off the rubber fencing that lines both sides, but I'm working on it. The dip down towards the creek caused her to snort and suck in, but kicking worked and we made it through the dip and up the other side and then we turned around and headed back. She, like most horses, thinks heading home is great and suddenly things weren't quite so scary, so to be mean I would turn her around and head away from the barn, or ask her to stop and stand, and bless her heart, she did both without complaining. Yes, I may have a ride and tie horse, but there's still much to do. Stay tuned.

And then, rather than head home, it was off to the Hitchiti woods to see if the redbuds are blooming. They're not, but the dogwoods certainly are. Absolutely stunning. See?