Great Day of Riding

Maggie and I had a fantastic ride today. We headed out to Benbrook Lake to ride today. I have spent alot of time working on obstacles lately and I think Liberty has just been tired of it. We had a behavioral incident on Friday, which included me hitting dirt (hate it when that happens). I took yesterday off to recover, but today we had decided we needed to get out there and move! Liberty really doesn't like all the tiny detail work, so it was time to do something he did like. We really didn't move very fast, but we did move at will. We mixed it up, some of me in front, some of Maggie/Dixie in front. We had lots of interesting terrain and we stopped a few times to work on backing or stepping on rocks, but mostly we just moved out. We rode for about 3 hours, but I have no idea how much ground we covered. I don't think we went very fast really, as we spent a lot of time walking very pokey walks to offset their more enthusiastic trots/canters.

I used a kimberwicke on him today (still looking for the perfect bit) and he was really good. Of course, I realize that there is a honeymoon period involved with bits, but today was as good as any he's worked in. Because of the curb I was able to get his head back up when he tried to graze and I was able to get the control I wanted without a lot of pressure in his mouth. I know that he may go better on long trail rides in a s hack or some sort of English hack, b/c his mouth is so small and he had trouble eating with it in his mouth. I still prefer the idea of a snaffle, but I have to admit that he was very happy with this in his mouth. For now, I will use it, to see if it's what will work for the Scamper. I still will do the bending exercises in a snaffle at least 1 day per week. If i think he's going to be stressed b/c of the bit, i will switch back to the sidepull for the competition. He did place 2nd in it before, after all, but now he feels better in a bit.

Then we came home and I got the bright idea to check in with the Wii fitness coach, who berated me (electronically that is) for not being more consistent with my workouts. So, I ended up putting on the 15 yoga routine which turned out to be more work than my 3 hour ride. My muscles are shaking. Maya promised relaxation and stretching, but now I have twitchy muscles.

I have been contemplating what to do for Lent...I have decided...to give up Coffee. It's the one thing I can't seem to live without in my day, so it's the perfect thing to give up as a sacrifice. I will still drink hot tea for breakfast, so I'm not really trying to completely decaffeinate, but this will keep me away from Starbucks and McDonalds early in the morning...well, I can get hot tea at Starbucks, but since all they do is give me a tea bag and some hot water, I think this is a no brainer!

Tomorrow am, we are getting up at 7 to work out before work. Maggie has no school tomorrow and the plans I thought I had in place for her have fallen through, so she is going to be at work with me. I had wanted the day off, but since the Activity Director left, and she hasn't been replaced yet, they really needed me to work tomorrow and Maggie doesn't really want to be home by herself all day. I figure she can bring her computer and play Sims, do 1-1 visits, pass out mail and help me bring people to groups.