Oooooh, a new follower!

Well I have to admit that I am a vain person and want people to read my blog. Even though I write it for me, I am flattered that people are interested and of course want people to think I am witty and wise (and pretty...I feel pretty, oh so pretty...). So it looks like I have a new follower - hello, whoever you are!

My friend Kali came up to visit this weekend as she is horse shopping and has had horse-shopping woes and wanted to come up and go trail riding and go look at a few horses. I'll spare you the horse-shopping details, as this isn't about HER, it is about ME! Rather, it is about Mac.

So to get to the nitty-gritty, Kali and I took Paddy and Mac to Lone Grave for a trail ride today. Lone Grave is in the tall pines of the Tahoe National Forest and it is a pretty place to go and it is also a good place to go conditioning. There are some hills, some single-track, some wider trails, some winding-through-the-pine-trees single-track, etc.

We loaded up the horses (Mac loaded like a champ) and headed up there. It was a gorgeous day for a trail ride - sunny and warm but not too hot and with a nice breeze. We tacked up and I had Kali start off on Paddy and I started off on Mac. Paddy was pretty bouncy, though, so after 15 minutes or so we switched and she rode Mac and I rode Paddy (for those of you who couldn't follow ;-)).

I asked if Kali was ok to go trotting off and she said yes so off we went trotting through some single-track. Paddy really, Really, REALLY needed to go forward and have a nice gallop so we turned off onto the bigger, wider trail and soon our trot turned into a canter and a forward one at that. Mac has a big trot and kept trotting bigger and bigger to stay with the pack and eventually cantered and then hit overdrive for a little bit. We brought the horses back to the walk and Paddy was happy to have let off some steam and he was no longer bouncy.

We made a nice big loop and then continued down a different trail where we again did some trotting through the trees on a winding single-track trail. Paddy's trot felt forward and powerful and engaged and really fun - if only I could get that trot in the dressage arena!

Kali was very complimentary of Mac and seemed to really enjoy riding him. He has such a good brain. The whole time he followed along willingly and easily, happy to do whatever we wanted. At one point he wanted to lead the way and spooked (which means his eyes got kind of big and he kind of stopped and planted his feet) at a pine cone, lol! But he marched right along with his Big Mac walk and then Paddy lead the way again. We made another small loop and headed for the staging area.

We got back, untacked the horses, toweled them down with wet towels, and then put them on the trailer. Mac got right on without hesitation and off we went for home.

What a fun day! I really need to hit the trails more - I love it out there so much and the horses do, too.