Ride to the Summit

When Mother nature decides to play a cruel prank and cause you to wake up to 5" of snow that is still falling, what do you suppose one should do?

Laugh in her face and go for a trail ride, of course!

Posers...at the summit.
The Spanish Peaks in the distance are hidden behind clouds.

EB and I decided to explore and ride the boys up a road that goes all the way to the summit of the big hill behind my house. It was a MUCH longer ride that we anticipated, but not too long. Once we were on top I took a few photos and, thanks to the communicative technology of cell phones, Hubs got a couple photos of us from our house. It was a really nice ride and great hill work for the boys. I can't wait to do it again.

View of my house, the tiny thing right in the middle.
The hills behind my house is Ted Turner's Flying-D ranch.

View of our posse from my deck.

Time for our "close-up", courtesy of the telephoto lens.

One thing I love about where we live is that all of our roads are gravel, and there are a lot of roads, and no through traffic! This means, that even when the fields and arena are muddy or snow covered, most of the time the roads are still terrific for riding.

Let me tell you my friends, there is still a lot of leg yielding, halting, backing, transitions, stretching, balance, rhythm etc. that can be worked on while riding on gravel roads. For this reason, I have developed a great fondness for riding on the roads. Never in my wildest imagination would have ever thought that would have become the case. But it has, so there you go. I still prefer working on these things in the arena, but it is nice to know that I still have good footing on the roads in wet weather, and therefore can still ride and work on training exercises.

I am however looking forward to the sunny and warm (70ºF) extended forecast that should arrive starting today!

•Renee•