We slept well last night with the cool air coming from the stuck-open window competing with the over-heated room. I think we may have been too hot if the window weren't open. We got completely ready before breakfast and took our helmets with us to the dining room. As soon as we finished eating, we went down to the stables. Kyra was eager to beat the other little girl there so she could ride Ruby today. Kyra rode a bike and I lagged behind, walking the approximate quarter mile to the stables. When I arrived later, Kyra was ahead of Sarah in line. When Sarah's mom arrived, I heard her tell her mom that she was going to let Kyra ride Ruby this morning and she was trying to decide which horse she should ride. At first, I didn't think much about it since Kyra was in line ahead of Sarah and horse selection is based on first-come-first-choice. But as we were walking down to the pens to get our horses, Kyra told me that she and Sarah (9 years old) talked about both wanting to ride Ruby (before I had made it to the barn) and they worked out a deal. Kyra would ride Ruby this morning, Sarah would ride Ruby this afternoon and tomorrow morning, and then Kyra would ride Ruby Wednesday afternoon since that would be our last ride of the vacation. WOW!!! I was impressed that they talked through the dilemma of both wanting to ride the same horse and worked out a compromise! Needless to say, Sarah's mom, Beth, was also impressed. We were both proud mommies! Way to go girls!!! The first picture in this blog is of my first horse of the day, Berta on the left, and Kyra and Sarah standing beside Ruby on the right.
Our guide this morning was Natalie, who was our guide yesterday afternoon as well. She's a very sweet girl and offered to take photos of family groups that had cameras. Our group this morning consisted of a father and son (the mother broke her arm when falling off a horse a few days ago), a mother and teenage daughter from Miami (Esther and Erin) and Kyra and me. Kyra was very happy that she was riding Ruby, as you can tell by the huge grin on her face in this second photo that Natalie took of us in the pasture on our return to the stables from the trails. I had requested to ride Stella, a Percheron. They have new guides at the ranch and I was given Berta, by mistake. Berta is a Percheron too, so I didn't really mind. I just wanted to see what it was like to ride a Percheron. Berta was a very smooth ride. Lance was right; it was like riding on a big comfy couch instead of a horse. Her walk was so smooth. When the group cantered, Berta's best effort was a trot. I was a little disappointed that I didn't get to experience her canter, but loved her walk.
This afternoon, I rode Stella. Berta has a smoother walk, but Stella can canter. Our group this afternoon attempted two canters. The first one was amazing! Stella was so smooth and powerful! We were in the back of the pack for that canter. I loved it! The second attempt didn't go as well. Another horse, Ballerina was behind us. Stella started to canter but Ballerina approached too closely and Stella bucked. I went flying out of the saddle, forwards, and screamed as I held on as tight as I could to the reins and the horn of the saddle. My feet flew out of the stirrups as well. I thought I was going to fly right off of her into the woods, but thankfully I had the arm strength to hold on until the trot slowed to a walk. My whole body turned to shaky jello afterwards! Except for that incident, which I blame totally on Ballerina getting too close, I loved the ride.
This afternoon, Sarah rode Ruby and Kyra asked for a horse similar to Ruby. Connie suggested Lucy. Because Kyra has a kitten named Lucy at her dad's house, she was happy with the suggested horse. By the end of the ride, Kyra said she liked Lucy almost as much as Ruby! I hoped that would happen...
It was so cold today! The high was in the 40s with winds 20-30 mph. It even sleeted for a few minutes. I can't believe how cold it is in April! The weather forecast calls for warmer weather tomorrow. I certainly hope so! Since there is a chance of snow flurries this evening, I made a point to have someone close our window for us during our lunch break.
During the day, some horses stay in the stables and they are let out to the pasture at night. Last year we met some of the new foals and a few are still there. One was particularly memorable because of her markings. Her name is Clue. They named foals last year after games and because of the questionmark on her face, Clue fits her perfectly. Of course, Kyra loves Clue and wants to buy her even though she wouldn't be able to ride her for a few more years... This last photo is of Kyra and Clue in the pasture between our last ride and dinner tonight.
This years foals are named after cars. We met Jetta yesterday, who is the newest addition to the ranch. She was born at midnight on Sunday night/Monday morning so we first saw her when she was less than a day old. I'm bummed that I didn't snap any photos of her...
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