In which we still aren't lame and we still aren't dead and the sun shines on us

After viewing the video in my last post, my farrier sent a note via Facebook:

 Wow - she does look NICE and sound, though. Solidly, completely, stunningly sound. Love it!

So, I went riding.

26 miles in about 5 and a half hours, including a stop at 14 miles for beetpulp (Fiddle) and a sandwich (me).
Deets are HERE.

And neither of us died.  So, that's a good thing.  Here are a few photos from the trail:

Early morning light on the trail

Fee and I left the trailhead around 8:30am--pretty early for a training ride.  Instead of the grey skies and intermittent gloom overhead that we experienced last Sunday, there was blue and sun.  Makes a huge difference for this horse and rider team!

Suspects du jour:  Eleni, Duana, Patty, and Kitty

At the end of a 14 mile loop, we returned to the trailhead and met up with the Usual Suspects.  They were WALKING:  Flower has just started pre-pregnancy hormone treatments, and Eleni has never ridden Hana on trails, and Du and Freya are using the WALKING opportunity to practice communication.

Kitty and Mac joined us for a while so we could catch up on socializing, then they split off to zoom around some hills.

Mid-day sunshine

We walked with the group as far as the "Cone Tree"--a landmark at the 5-mile point.  Then they went back to the trailers (with a bit of a detour?) and Fiddle and I took off downhill to add another 5 miles to our day.

I wanted to push us both a bit with this ride--it's the longest we've gone since my second hip surgery and her injury last winter.  In 2016 we did plenty of riding, but I only did one competition:  a 25-miler on a borrowed gaited horse.  I needed to know if we could still "do the thing."

Back at the trailer:  a bath

Apparently, yeah.  We can still do the thing.

At the end of 26 miles, Fiddle and I continue not to be lame or dead (and not imminently dead, either) so we went to lunch:  her in the trailer, and me with the Suspects at our favorite Thai restaurant.

Riding:  it makes life better   GOOD.