First trail ride of the year

The mornings have been delightful—sunny with a cool 13 degrees, then warming up quickly. I brought the prince his coffee in bed before we began preparing for our trail ride. We fed the horses their breakfast hay for trail energy. Breakfast was had while waiting for Britt. Later, we went out to catch the horses after I had given the mares a scoop of feed.

B was out soon after; we caught Beibs and loaded the 4, then settled the very sad dogs in the house for the day before heading out at 9:30. Shaina was to meet us in Okotoks, having picked up subs for our lunch. We parked at Sobeys, arriving in under 50 minutes. Ten minutes later, Shaina arrived, parked, and joined us with our lunch. Thanks, Dude!

We reached Sandy McNabb after 11, only to discover that that the horse we put in last, thinking he was used to backing out of trailers lots, refused to exit. We removed the saddles, saddle stand, and folded back the wall so he could turn around. Fortunately, there's always a solution. Once we had all tacked up our steeds, we set off heading south. After completing a short loop, we returned to camp in just over an hour. With some energy to spare, we crossed the highway north for another 30-minute loop.

Thanks Shaina for these 4 pics and video, always a great day on horseback.

look at Beibs go

Beibs performed remarkably well for his first time in the actual mountains, aside from a few rides around the Millerville area where B resided last summer and the river trail ride Dave took him on a few years ago. Additionally, there were the two rides S undertook this week at our place in preparation. Excellent work, little buddy. You may just be our new trail horse.

Big Bird did fine too having spent most of the summer on vacation mode.

We allowed them to graze for a while as we savored our delicious subs Shaina provided along with a refreshing drink. Oddly enough, the buckets weren't in the trailer to cool the horses down and give them water, but we managed to locate the hydrant and washed our hands after getting them all loaded up. 

The trail ride was a warm 30 degrees, so on the route home we stopped by Dairy Queen to pick up a Blizzard for each of us. As we continued, the temperature climbed to 32 degrees. Upon arrival, we unloaded and hosed down the horses, while S released the excited pups who were thrilled at our return.

S parked the trailer back in its place, then stripped down to his underwear and settled on the couch for a nap. B cleaned all her horse boots and fed the horses. I posted the tutorial for the green floral accent table tutorial, fed H, and assisted B briefly before watering my planters and gardens. The recent heat wave dries them up fast. 

Britt and Cooper left as I was watering at 5:30. S had woken up by then, moving to the bedroom and the big screen to watch the big labor day  football game. I harvested potatoes and an onion. S helped me scrub and slice them for my chicken skillet dish. Meanwhile, I had a pot of beets cooking, and I picked the first ripe tomato, which he said was tasty. We had a hot tub then finished the cirque du soilei show on Prime.

Shaina sent these 3 videos XOXO