Red Mountain

Yesterday, for part of our conditioning, we took Cody & Brego to Red Mountain. Since Tim was on Cody, who walks much more slowly, he had me in front all day. Brego didn't like being in front, and I had to keep his head pointed forward and his pace up. After cantering the past few days with him my thighs were a bit sore, so it wasn't fun squeezing him over and over to make him go. I wasn't feeling relaxed, being in front, with him not responding well. I was gaiting him up the hills when the trail was nice, then later in spots a little more challenging. Tim was prodding me to make him go and give him a good workout. Finally, at the top, we rested a bit, got off and let them eat some grass. After that, Brego was much better about being in front, and I was taking more initiative to gait and canter him in spots. He was good and not nutty about cantering. At one point Tim went in front and sped Cody up to see if Brego would remain in control, and Brego did fine, staying in a gait as I asked, and not trying to catch up with Cody. This is good. We had a good day, rode about 11 miles, and we all got a good workout--including our butts!

This week we will see our saddle maker, to see if he can make some adjustments on our side of the saddle--where we sit. He's got some new kind of chushy material he can add for comfort. Hopefully that will help.

This Thursday we leave for the Black Hills, and look forward to the ride and seeing the friends we've met the past couple of years.