Beyond The Cattle Guard

 I have not had much opportunity to ride recently. But this morning I had a little spare time, so I caught a horse.

Can you the who it is? 

That’s right, the cresty neck and high rump can only be Hugo.  After some lunging so I could get a halter on him, we rode around in the barn for about 20 minutes.  There were no issues so I headed outside.

I got down to the cattle guard at the lower end of the driveway and thought, ok, it has been 8 months, I can do this.  So I went though the gate and head on down the driveway.  There were a few obstacles, a large limb across the road, the neighbors’s barking dog, then the other neighbor with 4 Rhodesian Ridgebacks.  But Hugo took it all in stride and was not phased by any of it.  Pretty amazing since it has been over 8 months since he has been out and about.

Then we got to the spot of the accident.  Even though it was Otoelene and not him, he was pretty tense and I could tell he did not want to go past the falling down barn.  So I took him over the hill where I came off Otoelene 8 months ago.  I had a very tight rein until we got back down to the road and he started to relax again. 

Then it was smooth sailing the rest of the way back to the barn.

I managed about 1 1/2 hours without any back discomfort.  I might be ready for a trail ride.  Anyone want to go?