A New Year's Day ramble down the road

Anything coming up behind me?

We woke to a frozen crystalline morning. Last night's fog left a slippery coating early today. By late morning, the sun melted the icy roadways. But the woods were another story. Under the trees, in the shade, the frozen ground proved quite icy still. So we opted for a road ride.

Harley hadn't been ridden since last Monday, so he was feeling good and looking for excuses to jump around a little bit. Ruffy behaved quite nicely, braving a barking dog, a nail gun and compressor, and even her first bridge. Harley took one look at the bridge and decided to back up and go in circles. John dismounted and led Ruffy across. She was a star. With her out front, Harley deigned to follow, although he did think she was crazy to head out over the water on the funny sounding roadway. Mind you, he's been over this bridge a number of times, and unless it's in the direction of home, he's inclined to pull his stunts here. I should have expected it and ridden him more forcefully.

We took a detour down a dead end dirt road which has some downed spruce trees blocking the way. It was a good excuse to pop over some little jumps, which Ruffy did with style, and Harley, not quite so gracefully. He was too concerned about being left behind.

Always one to check his back trail, Harley would not stand still for pictures for long--something might come over the bridge, or down the hill--yikes! He was anxious to be home while Ruffy stood still as John clicked away. As you can see, there's ice along the roadside, and I didn't want him dancing over that!

Doesn't he look smashing in his new bitless bridle?