Plans and Clinics

It's only Tuesday and already I'm working for the weekend!

Saturday morning I've got another conditioning ride ready to roll out.  Going to let a friend come try it with me.  She's not sure her boy can keep up with mine.  As I told her, I'm not riding hard, I'm just going for mileage under his feet.  And, I told her she'll be surprised at how her boy acts with another horse who's moving out.  I certainly was! 

She did say she didn't want to slow us down, and if she felt she was, it wasn't like she was lost and couldn't get back to the barn, so we'll see how she and he do for our ride on Saturday.  I told her I like to have my foot IN the stirrup by 8 am so I'm done before 10 and it gets hot.  I know I'm supposed to be shaving time off on my 8 mile loops right now, but I feel like we did last week, and if I can bump an extra mile or so out of him in an hour and a half (like I did last week), then I feel I've accomplished that goal.

Then on Sunday is a casual and fun trail ride.  A good sized group of us is going over to McKinney Roughs to ride the Pope Bend Loop.  Not sure how long we're going to take, but it'll be nice.  And since it's close enough, we're going to go ahead and haul both boys in my trailer with my truck.  Going to leave it hooked up and haul it home so that SOMETIME during the week I can run it down and get it weighed. 

I'm also going to run to Dover Saddlery this week and have my noggin measured for a helmet.  I know that I need one (at least for endurance rides), and the one I've currently got doesn't fit me very well.  Time to fix that.  Or at least get a price estimate on fitting my brainbox so I can save up and get one. 

Also my trail riding group is kicking around doing a clinic at some point.  That'd be nice.  I REALLY want to get Strider to where he'll side pass.  It is the height of annoyance to climb out of the saddle to open and close a gate.  I hate it. 

I also hate that he doesn't stand still for mounting.  My fault.  I mount up and ride off.  Got to stop doing that. 

But I find it annoying that when I put him in a place, he won't just STAND there.  He wants to move off.  So we dance around and around one another.  Ugh.  I wasted like 15 minutes on Saturday (I paused my ride timer as I wouldn't have dismounted had my damn saddle not dropped a stirrup!) just getting him to stand in one spot.  He'd walk off, I'd back him up quickly, then put him back where I asked him to stand.  He'd move, I'd back him up, then put him back where I had him initially.  Lather, rinse, repeat.  So. Annoying.