My Horse is Back

Skyla, Karen and I had a fabulous ride in the Owyhee's today. The weather ended up being perfect, the horses were great, and the company terrific. I did take pictures, but am having technical difficulties (ie, I can't find my camera to laptop cord), and won't be able to upload them until later. (ETA: they've been uploaded!)

We ended up doing the longest ride Jasper's ever done--16.16 miles! The three of us headed out and logged 9 miles, and Skyla and I ate a snack and did another 7. Karen's new horse, Scarlet, is just getting started as an endurance horse and called it a day after the 9 miles. It was great to have the opportunity to do a ride with a middle bit back at the trailer, and Jasper proved himself as a professional once again by devouring his hay and gulping down two buckets of water. He even drank from the slimy water trough we found during our first loop!

I think the best part of the whole day was just before we headed out on our second loop, Skyla offered to let us use her Vosal. I was skeptical, but he was acting more his normal self and decided I could still pack his regular bridle if we encountered any hairy situations. We absolutely didn't need it. He seemed to really like going bitless, and listened very, very well. Although we led a little, I did feel like the lateral control was lacking and so we settled in behind Tempo for most of that loop.

I am so very happy with my horse today! Skyla thinks it may have been that Jasper just didn't mesh with the horses on our ride the other day. He certainly has never acted like that before, and I hope she's right!