Stormy Ride

So it's nice out all day yesterday but as soon as we get to the barn, it clouds up and looks like it's going to storm. I hate you weatherman! When we arrived we were greeted by a big brindle dog that must have been part St. Bernard, he was pretty big, but friendly. Not sure where he came from but he wouldn't leave us alone. He ended up in the paddock with the horses. The biggest scardy cat, Kalani, was the first one to go chasing the dog to see what it was. We caught the boys anyway and groomed, chatted with Tom for a few minutes, and tacked up the horses. It hadn't started raining yet so we figured we'd give it a try and hope for the best. I haven't had a chance to get some clips for my reins so Jeff was stuck with the regular english reins on Axel's new bridle. He thinks they're too short. And he doesn't like to ride with both hands holding the reins. Guess I'll have to put some clips on the split reins for him eventually.

Our new friend, the dog, ended up following us the whole ride. The horses were alright with it, so that was a relief. Tricia wants to bring her dog on Saturdays when we ride so she can get used to walking with horses, we hadn't tried it yet as I wasn't sure how the boys would react. I guess they passed the test. After Axel trotted partway down the first hill, we managed to walk up the hill to the woods. By following him I can see that hills are really a good thing for him. He doesn't step under himself on flat ground but really does a better job on hills. Guess we'll be walking up hills a lot from now on. We walked around the edge of the hill and had a bite of grass in the clearing before heading into the woods. We were probably only a few feet into the woods when it started raining a little. Cody decided he wanted to go home and actually turned around and took the initiative to lead, which he never does. I thought I could hear storm sirens so I figured he had the right idea. We let Axel pass and went back down the hill. Both horses tried to trot *down* the hill. The wind and rain and evil clouds must have really gotten them worked up, usually they are really careful on the way down hills. We had a small fight on the way back up to the paddock. Cody wanted to run and I wanted to walk. It wasn't raining at this point so there was no reason to hurry. Jeff said we hopped up part of the hill. If it hadn't started getting really windy I would have made Cody walk back down the hill and walk up again until he got it right. But I guess a thunderstorm isn't the best time to try and make a point with a horse.

We were going to take some photos but right when we got back it started raining again so we untacked as fast as we could. Then of course, it stopped raining. I told Tom we'd feed when we got back so we rounded everyone else up and put out dinner. Jeff did end up taking a few photos while the horses were eating hay. I don't think they really wanted to be photographed during dinner but they had no choice. And right as we were leaving, it really started to rain and rained the whole drive home.