Ouch...

This weekend was filled with lots and lots of riding.

It started out Friday night when Hutch and I did a dressage lesson with a local trainer. I must admit that I went into the lesson kind of smug. After all, Flash and I have competed in dressage in the past. Nothing high level or super-fancy, but still... I thought we had the basics down pretty good. Wrong.

Flash and I have both gotten quite lazy over the past few years. It was painful for us both. He could only hold frame for a few strides before reverting to his previous way of going. And I didn't do much better. We both were sweaty, hot and very tired by the time the hour was up. Thank goodness that Hutch and Anna were there to split the time with us or we would have never survived.

This is going to be a weekly thing, so hopefully I can start to improve my riding throughout the winter. I haven't told Flash yet, though. He won't be pleased...

On Saturday, Jewel and I decided to branch out and see what trails we could find. We stumbled upon the Cline Butte Rec Area which has many trails just waiting for exploration. I can't believe what amazing riding I have right from my doorstep... it is fantastic. The only downside to that ride is that Flash and I were tired.

On the upside, I took the LL's dog with us and she did great... except for getting pooped on by a hawk.

DD having a good time on the trail...

Except for the hawk pooping directly on top of her head...

On Sunday, Hutch wanted to get her offspring out for a ride. I explained that Flash was not speaking to me and needed a day off. No problem, she had a youngster that needed some time out on the trail. OK, no biggie. The only problem we ran into was Commander (the offspring's horse) kept parking himself on every bush in site and scratching his itchy belly. Offspring was fine with it. Hutch would freak out a little when he started doing it. All-in-all everyone had fun and it was a good (if short) ride.

Later that day, I went out to Mags place to ride Storm and chit-chat with her. We had a great ride too, but by the time we got back I was sore all over.

There is no denying it. I'm getting older. And with my birthday just around the corner it's more apparent than ever...