Rain Ridin~

15-miles at Victoria

I'd made plans to ride with Charlotte...  but it was raining...  Hard to get up the motivation to go out in it, with a hot latte in front of me & my husband home...  I called - Charlotte said;  "I've invited others - be there or be known as a wimp!"  Well...  OK then!  Cards were on the table & I did really need to get Farah out.

Does it look wet?  We get out to Hwy 9

About four weeks ago we brought in a new ton of hay from eastern, WA.  It was supposed to be an alfalfa blend, which we don't normally feed, but it was nice & the price was right.  The last week, I noticed that Farah was getting "hot".  Not at all like her.  What had changed?  Feed...  When I had to get off her last week, to keep from getting bucked off, the thought had entered by head.   So on Fri., we put her back on the expensive Timothy with just a small amount of alfalfa.  It seemed today that it's going to be a week or two before I see improvement - since we started out with Farah puffed up like a toad, bouncing down the trail, grunting & snorting at the same time.  No one could get near us that she didn't threaten.  At least for the first few miles.

Charlotte & Aliento

Finally, after setting an incredible pace, she settled in.  It was good for her mind to be with a group of competitive, experienced horses.  Kathy is another that likes to gallop, so we did a LOT of galloping & Farah loved it.  She & Cinnamon went side-by-side, nose to nose :-)  My Garmin recorded 35 mph - I don't know what Kathy's recorded, but do know we did some fast work.  The horses all loved it, they blew out their lungs, worked up a full sweat & by the time I dismounted to walk back to the trailers, Farah had her head long & low, walking with her swinging stride, looking relaxed & happy.  Garmin Stats~

Back to some arena time tomorrow~