To ride dressage is to dance with your horse, equal partners in the delicate and sometimes difficult work of creating harmony and beauty.

Tuesday, January 16, 2018

It's just one gorgeous weekend after another!

We had some rainy days last week, but the weekend has been glorious again. We were at church or with friends all day Saturday, so the only horse I was able to get on was at the Salem Carousel (thanks to an old punchcard I have).
Taking a picture of a friend taking a picture ;-)
Sunday I didn't let myself ride until I cleaned up the arena. Rick had "mowed" up the leaves early in the fall, but hadn't done it again once all the leaves were down. Grinding them into the sand affects drainage in the winter and dustiness in the summer, so I've been limiting our work to the relatively clean half. No more; I went out with rake and cart and cleaned the whole thing. Rick came in at the last and helped me pull some dead weeds, then used the teeth on the front end loader to groom the rougher end. Riding in that clean space afterwards was as refreshing as clean sheets!

Monday was another gorgeous day, so Lance and I went on a road/trail ride. Winter had knocked a lot of the weeds down so we were able to take the track through the woods for the first time in many months.

We came back home along the vineyards, watching red-tailed hawks courting against a backdrop of of snow-capped Cascade peaks. The breeze blew Lance's mane and I was lucky enough to capture a shot.
Majestic Mt. Hood

It's only long on the upper half, but dorky as it looks I've left it as it gives his neck some protection against the mosquitoes he's allergic to.

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