great ride!!!

It was 70 degrees here today(!!!!) and I really wanted to ride Lucy in the outdoor for the first time this season. In the fall, she was pretty stupid out in that ring, spooking at imaginary things and getting silly. To prevent any mishaps, I lunged her out there first and then once she was going around nicely and without theatrics, I got on.

Things were very hectic at the barn today. The barn owner had an electrician there fixing a few issues with the wiring in the barn. A couple of boarders were getting ready to go out on a trail ride, and they were riding their ponies in all the spooky scary areas of the farm where the horse eating monsters hide. Dogs were running around loose (yeah...). In addition to that, people were constantly coming and going from the barn so we had cars and trucks driving down the driveway, AND there were strong wind gusts that were blowing leaves across the ring and making tarps in the woods flutter.

Lucy took it all in stride. She looked at a few things but only spooked once, and there was no turn-n-burn action, it was just a little jump in place, and she got over it immediately when I urged her forward. At one point one of the dogs even ran across the ring. Have I mentioned that I HATE dogs running around when I'm trying to ride?? She was giving the dog a bit of the hairy eyeball and I was not eager to turn the ride sour, so I simply halted her. The dogs owner got him out of the ring after I asked her to and she happily went right back to work. I was peeved that the dog was in the ring in the first place, but I didn't let it wreck my kickass ride.

Here are some photos!