I planned to ride with a few friends on the trail, but first Tina. I did our normal routine, tack up, warm up and get ready to mount. Only today, for whatever reason, I sensed an edginess to her. She was more tense than usual. The wind was howling and I suspect that's why. As I asked her to come to the mounting post, I decided not to throw a leg over. I'm sensitive to her when she feels on edge and I don't trust enough yet to ride her through that. Since I'm getting nearly every day of the week with her, I decided today would just be groundwork. I don't want to push hard at this point. I'm respecting both of our thresholds.
Then I loaded up Z for the 20 min drive to Hidden Mesa. Z was a dream trail horse. Wow, we have come so far. I rode bridleless as much as possible (she was in a rope hack, but I did not use the reins 90% of the ride). Her sensitivity and responsiveness to my seat and leg are better than ever. One of the other riders was having a lot of trouble with her horse and I tried to coach a little, but I enjoyed just hanging back and working with Z. She seemed calm and happy, too. It was wonderful.
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