In which I ride and it doesn't rain and no: we aren't bored with riding

A well-intentioned person at work the other day asked,

"Don't you get bored, just riding that same horse all the time?"

Um. No.  Not boring.

I grant that our rides are less exciting these days than in years past, mostly because the Dragon is a Grown Up Pony now, and much less inclined to make the day interesting by spooking at monsters (real or imagined).

Fiddle is confident that her death glare is sufficient to subdue most monsters,
and that if this tactic fails, my +5 death glare will certainly kick in to cover the remainder.

We aren't conditioning right now so much as just keeping the wheels on straight--for horse and rider.  Our trail rides are a chance for her to see terrain away from the home pasture, to spend time with creatures other than the goats, and to pick up her feet and blow the dust out of her moving parts.

"Back away slowly, you monsters.  I'm coming through!"

For me, our rides serve as an opportunity to think about stuff that has nothing to do with my job, my garden, and the rest of my "mundane" life.

On the trail, I sing songs, look at birds, and try to remember where that teeny trail used to be....

I finally found the teeny trail!  It's the rectangular piece at about 4 o'clock on the map

In theory, our weekly rides are training exercises for competitions.  

Water crossings are NBD for a Swampland horse
Mt. Adams ride photo by Dave Honan, published with purchase

And truly: I had kinda forgotten (after taking a year off to let Fee heal up her stifle injury) how much we both enjoy long-distance events.  I was pretty excited to be back on the endurance trail.  Fiddle was THRILLED to be back.  

Mt Adams photobomb, photo by Dave Honan
published with purchase

We both like to go out and trot around together with no real goal in mind.   

But. Um.  

I may have committed to riding the 50-miler at Renegade, even though we aren't actually chasing miles this year.  

Pretty trail, pretty horse.

It's just so much fun!