Winter on the SVT~

Leaving Duvall~

It was a cold morning, as I haltered Farah, I heard frozen sleet on the roof of the cover!  Did I really want to drive to Duvall & ride?  Well...  Yes!  I'd been feeling edgy for whatever reason & a ride would cure that!  Lynn had planned for us to ride from the SVT to the Tolt pipeline so we checked with Chris & headed in that direction.

Flooded trail

Lynn had ridden this area before & found the trail that would take us up to SR-203, it had turned into a deep, flowing, stream!  Instead, we took a only partially flooded graveled drive.  At the top, we could have taken the shoulder over to where the gas line cut down the hill.  As we were discussing the dubious merits of taking horses out on that Very Busy highway - a huge motor-home crested the hill.  He saw us & let off the gas - in doing so making a LOT of noise.  We watched as he passed us - with his extended side mirrors & the trailer he was towing behind - he took up a LOT of the road & was oh so close to that fog line & narrow road shoulder between it & that guard rail.  Farah didn't like it at all & neither did I!  Lynn & Sophie had come to the same conclusion.  Much more sensible to go back to the trail & have a nice ride - rather than risk life & limb on a wet busy road on a gray morning.

Farah - always alert~

We returned to the trail & the sun was burning through the clouds, but it still felt really cold, a wet cold after all the rain of the night before.  Both mares set a nice pace, good walk & we enjoyed catching up after the holidays.

At the Tolt River

We rode to Carnation & took the dike trail over to the Tolt.  A large tree had fallen across the trail, Lynn & Sophie went around the end, through the brush - showing off their trail obstacle skills!  I dismounted & watched as Farah again levitated onto her hind end, raised herself up & jumped from a standstill over the log - just Beautiful!

Our 20-mile Ride

We took a short break in the sunshine before starting back.  Clouds were moving in & we hadn't left Carnation before the rain started!  I zipped everything that I could zip & we hunkered down for the ten-mile return.  As we were watching the clouds, a rainbow appeared!  So beautiful against the dark gray of the clouds, with the sun coming from behind us!

The rain stopped, the sun returned & we saw yet a second rainbow!  Auspicious start to a new year of riding!