In which we saddle up and head for the hills. And we sing too, of course.

...and in a new PR, I got on my horse today and rode for an hour and a half.

Day 20 post-surgery, if anybody is counting.

Back at the hospital, the surgeon assured us that although I'm perfectly capable of hurting myself, I am unlikely to permanently harm myself by riding my horse.  In fact, the "in the saddle" position is a good one to strengthen muscles that will help keep my new joint(s) where they are supposed to be.  

Still, it felt a little...funny...at first.

Getting tacked up at the trailhead

I've been sitting in a saddle at home on the rack (it's my desk chair, thanks to Monica!) for more than a week, but this is the first time back in my saddle on top of my horse since a few days before I had my second hip replacement in mid-November.

"I like shooting from here because it makes your horse
look so huge," Duana said.
Yeah, because looking huge is such a challenge?

Getting on was no problem, despite the enormousness of my horse.  There's a rock at the trailhead that is the perfect mounting block. 

We managed to time our ride between the rain squalls and the windstorm

We started out down the trail, and I was a little stiff.  My hip flexor tendons are cranky at best, and although I don't remember being pushed into weird yoga positions during the surgery, my unforgiving flexors assure me that it did happen.

Pretty day, but not very warm!

We warmed up for the first mile, mostly walking.

I sang as we walked along, of course.  Here's the "walking song" for today.  

It;s a silly song, and it makes me smile...and Davy Jones singing it makes me smile even more.  I can't help thinking that there is a strong resemblance between the Dragon/me and the hippo/penguin in the song.

When we felt like trotting, we trotted.  

Duana loves the Dragon.  The Dragon wishes Du would carry more cookies.

As always, Hana and Duana were the perfect trail companions.  We stayed side-by-side the whole ride, although the mares would have preferred to race the hills, we kept everything low key.  90 minutes, maybe 6 miles.  

And...

Well, it was Good.  Of course!