First Ride of 2014

I know a lot of you have had multiple rides by now, but we were pretty pleased that we were finally able to get the horses home.  The next day was beautiful and it was obvious what was needed.  The snow is still too deep and unpredictable to be on the mountain, so we figured our 1.5 mile loop around town would suffice for a start.

Looks like somebody is pretty happy to have his best bud back.  Notice the snow on the steps of the cabin.

Is that really running water?  Yes, Washoe, the snow IS melting.

 

The horses were happy and spunky, choosing to long trot a good deal of the distance.  As soon as they had limbered up a bit, Jesse broke into her fun version of a running walk, with Ranger dropping in right at her heels with his trot.  Normally Ranger can not be bothered to go faster than a walk unless his life is in danger, so we were more than mildly surprised with his attitude and his choice to start off at such a brisk pace.  They certainly came home in great condition this year; not over weight and very toned.  I also suspect some of the good came from Bill changing to a lighter weight saddle.

Ranger also came home looking like someone really had bleached his mane.  It's not usually quite this light!

When we got home, Jesse just had to have a good roll in the muddy part of the corral.  She had been so pretty and clean and white.

The rest of us just watched in amazement.

"Please."  You couldn't possibly tell they are all waiting for me to dig treats out of my pocket.  It's kind of a ritual between them and me; if we've had a good outing, they each get a treat just before I leave the corral; no pushing, no shoving, just a nice polite, "please".

Found one.  Enlarge the picture and you will see the treat in my hand.  Now the wait to see whose name I say to get this treat; they know they will each get one.  A happy ending for all.

As I write this, I am watching it snow outside.  We woke up to five inches already on the ground.  I would guess we have had at least eight or nine by now.  The horses were not too happy at the change of weather for this morning's feeding, but they have such phenomenal furnace systems.  They quit shivering as soon as they started munching their morning hay.  The forecast improves tomorrow, so they are probably going to live through this also.  I can certainly empathize with them; I think we are all ready for spring.
Bionic Cowgirl