I keep trying to go to sleep so I can be up early but my mind keeps saying "NO". Ah well . . . I really should get off my ass and actually finish one of the several dozen projects I have lying around that way you guys will have SOMETHING pretty to look at. Soon, I promise. (Eyes ~mad-libbs who is taking careful aim with a M4 rifle) VERY soon.

ANYWAY! Caeli news! (get comfy, you'll be here for a while)
My little girl celebrated her fourth birthday on July first, and is now an official horsey adult.(Yay!) PLUS This past Saturday held a (SUPER) major milestone for the two of us and I couldn't be more proud. I managed to weasel the day off and join four other boarders to do our very first trail ride. She didn't want to get in the trailer, and when we GOT to the county park she was acting like a jitterbug (understandably!), but she calmed quickly even in the unfamiliar surroundings.

My girl braved wooden bridges, horse-eating deer, flapping tarps, a legion of goats, roaring motorcycles, and rabid children with scooters. And all without the drama and spookiness I honestly expected out of her. We even opened two cattle gates . . . well, she opened the second one on her own. Do I get extra points for that?

The ride itself was amazing, and I'm sure I was grinning like an idiot for most of it. Walk, trot, canter, uphill, downhill . . . it was a blast. On one of the longest straightaways I let her stretch out to a full gallop. She listened perfectly when I asked her to slow, and then stop. The group teased me playfully as I had the only horse that wasn't in the vicinity of 16hh (or larger) and everyone else towered over us. But we kept pace and never fell behind.

However after the first time we cantered as a group Caeli got it into her head that she and Rohan (a Shire) were competing. It was hilarious! Amazing ride. I'm looking forward to doing it again!