Getting Back in the Groove~

To Victoria~

It had been a while - Dec. 11th to be exact, since I'd ridden at Victoria.  That was my fourth ride in the new Stonewall Sport.  Today makes nine rides in the saddle & every time I saddle up, I'm very thankful that after such a long search, I found something that seems to be working so well for us both.

Tree of my Stonewall Sport

When you look at the width of this tree & amount of spine clearance - you can see why these saddles have been so successful, for so many riders over the years.  Even as lightly ridden as Farah has been lately - she wasn't the handful that she would have been before.  More forward than up & that works for me!

Gray day - clouds cap Mt. Washington

Linda & Count met us at the parking area, we ran into Kathy, Darlene & Susan on their way back as we were going out.  We stopped to chat for a few minutes.  It seemed much colder than the temperature told us it was...  Probably low 40's up there, but with a bite to the breeze, fog & low clouds, it felt much colder.

The fog~

 A couple times, Linda put Count into a good trot.  The hackamore worked, I had to be careful, just using a quick pull on one side to ask for a more moderate pace - but we did do some up/down galloping behind them :-)  Only the second time I've used it when riding with others.

Farah~

Farah was happy to be out & glad to have company.  She settled in much quicker than I'm used to - no doubt that a comfortable saddle helps her attitude, as it does mine!  The hackamore too - has really helped to calm her under saddle.  That was a relief to me, since I still seem to be at somewhat of a low ebb since my trip to CO.  She still looks for the bit when the headstall goes on, but has figured out the name of this game :-)

Linda was kind to me, we just did the usual winter road loop.  Both of us happy to sit in the cab of Linda's warming truck to eat a snack before heading home~