I went on my first trail ride today... with the horse of course ;)

[chicago]

smurf!!, that is an awesome picture!!! thank you for posting that!!!

I'm going to watch the youtubes now... thank you so much... you rock!

[Biciclista]

well, it's been a few years since i've seen a barrel racer, and i see they've managed to put advertising on the BARREL now too. is nothing sacred?
Smurf, awesome photo of you and your horse,


Chicago, that blurry photo was all I needed. For a sec I could smell the horses and the woods. Thanks

[Mr. Bloom]

I'm in Chicago right now. IT'S COLD!

[Mr. Bloom]

...and I'm very glad your day went well!

[chicago]

I'm in Chicago right now. IT'S COLD!

LOL!! "This" is not cold!! You want cold... wait until January when it's 30 below with 50 below wind chill factor... now THAT's cold

This is still Fall weather...

[Mr. Bloom]

Some in our meeting group were from Naples Florida asking "why are we meeting in Chicago in November?"; I had to agree with them...

[arielmoon]

I am glad you had fun on the trail ride and spoke to your trainer about the last lesson. You are paying for her time and undivided attention.

I am fortunate that my horse is good on the trails as well as in the arena because it is so nice to have a change of scenery. I try to trail ride once a week.

I love that reining freestyle vid- it is truely remarkable and I love that song.

[LoriO]

I love riding my bike, but not even that can compare to an afternoons trail ride in the woods with just me and my horse. It is so peaceful and relaxing and everyday troubles are just totally left behind. Glad that you got to experience that incredible feeling for yourself!

Here are some pics of my girl Lizzy enjoying herself out in the pasture one day!

[smurfalicious]

smurf!!, that is an awesome picture!!! thank you for posting that!!!

I'm going to watch the youtubes now... thank you so much... you rock!

So here is the funny thing about that picture. The barrel race was a double header and it was also the first time my mom ever showed, in my life, for a horse show/barrel race/whatever. There was a buckle on the line for just winning the average in two gos.

Naturally I freaked out over my mom being there and managed to knock down two barrels on our first run. By the second run my ex had gone to get me food and what he rightly believed to be liquid courage. After a couple beers I was laughing instead of being upset and my attitude was "Fuggit, I'm gonna go balls to the walls and see what happens!" Sure enough we set our personal best on that run!

I HIGHLY recommend reading Sally Swift's "Centered Riding." It is an amazing book!!! For those of us who are visual she is a godsend. If you do anything try and develop good hands. I've gotten a little sloppy after years of riding basically backwards at the guest ranch, but the one thing I still have really going for me is my hands. For some reason, even if I'm almost falling off, my hands will still be soft.

Love and cookies!
-HillBill