Galloping into December

Foggy Sunrise

Heavy fog blanketed the lowlands this morning. As the sun began to come up, the moon went to bed. We could still see it around seven a.m. If you look hard in the bottom left corner, Harley, Rolex, and Ruffy are little specks in the fog, eating their breakfast. The roar of logging equipment in the woods told us it would be another few days of keeping the horses in the lower north pasture.

Rolex want a carrot?

John and I wanted to get in a good ride with the nice weather and warm temperatures. What started out as a rather quiet ramble, using carrots to lure our ponies down the road, quickly turned into a speedy ride. Once Rolex and Harley warmed up out of their afternoon stupor, we were off. Harley immediately went from a trot into a canter as he chased Rolex through the woods. Little Miss Speedy thought this was a ton of fun.

When she ran out of steam, Harley took the lead, watching for "bogeymen".  As we approached the farmstead, I noticed a sheet of plywood propped up against a rock. I knew it wasn't there last time, and just as I suspected, when Harley caught sight of of it, he spun to the left.

We thought about doing the Jepson Farm/Quarry loop, but instead went only as far as half way down the quarry road. Rolex stopped, ready to head home. Harley was happy to turn back when a large bird (didn't get a good view of it) flew out of a tree and spooked him. He set off a chain reaction--even unflappable Rolex jumped. Feeling good is always a reason to have a few "Thoroughbred moments". Once we turned for home, Mr. Prancy Pants did just that--began to jig. I put him out front, thinking he might settle, but Rolex out-paced him, pinning her ears as she moved into first place. The race was on! We had another strong canter (John said it wasn't a gallop, but Harley was haulin') until we pulled up.  But that wasn't it--we had a real gallop with Harley leaping over a few spots with rocks. I ducked my head and held on. There are no brakes with the bitless bridle! A sharp turn for home made them slow down, but not before Rolex got in a monstrous kick, telling Harley to back off. He threw on the brakes, nearly unseating me it was so jarring. What a couple of sillies. I think we all enjoyed galloping into December.

Harley enjoying treats on the trail