Old Habits Die Hard!

Farah at the Wetland~

Funny how easy it was to get back into my conditioning routine for Farah's Limited Distance debut.  After all - it's what I've done - for a very long time!  Fighting her for the 25-miles was something that I was not used to.   (Khari was such a professional & knew her job so well, that I would set a pace & away we went.)  Farah hasn't yet had the experience to figure out that there are many more miles out there!  :-)  Actually -  I don't want her to find out - at least not at top-ten endurance speed.

So today, we slowed down, we enjoyed the ride, we worked on the basics.  I worked on some of the techniques that I've been trying so hard to learn - the finesse of Light Hands Horsemanship.   I like the idea of a partnership built on trust & reward.  Lightness was certainly a casualty of Bare Bones!

Beautiful yellows~

Once Farah figured out that we weren't going to be blasting around the woods, she settled in - started listening & we had a really Super ride!  She held her collection on a loose rein - moved into the trot without sacrificing that collection & paid attention to where she put her feet.  A large doe crossed our path on the way home - it was one of those quiet, still, cool afternoons that are my favorite of our Washington "Summer"!