In Hand Work on Friday

Just below is a picture of Arabee's girth area - hairless and swollen. Which, is the reason that rather than riding for 2 hours around the farm expanding our territory, I decided to walk her (with some jogging) in hand to accomplish some of the same goal. It was NOT a workout for Arabee, she never even got her breath up, and certainly didn't break a sweat. (but I did...and had a stitch in my side starting about 1/3 of the way into the mile and a half walk~it was good for rider fitness, anyway) I just hated the idea of trying to ride her, even with the too-big, fleecy girth and making things worse, or raw - and then it would have probably taken even longer to heal. Playing it safe and hopefully can get back on the trail early next week. I will phone order a girth today, it should surely be here by mid-week, and I think if the swelling goes down (which it hadn't yesterday, but looks much better this morning) I could try the fleecy girth for short rides until the new and improved material girth arrives.

Hard-to-see photo of daffodils and honeysuckle in the fenceline along the road. (I didn't take pictures of the beer cans and wine bottles lining the sides of the road.....and judging by the number of Bud Lite cans, that is the beer of choice for "booze cruises" in my neck of the woods....I hate that people do that - I don't mind drinking, and I don't mind driving - but PLEASE, please, don't combine the two, ESPECIALLY at the same time!!!)

This shows a 1/4 mile flat farm lane that goes straight towards the river (river follows the tree line) - good opportunity for wind-building gallops after Arabee is familiar with the area!

We hiked across the soybean stubble and you can see the rows of the harvested corn in the background. The fields follow the river and we stayed close to the cow pasture fenceline. Arabee's looking straight at the barn - Jack didn't appreciate being left behind and was letting her know!

The green field is filled with wild onions sprouting, and we're at the top of the hill, the camera is looking down at a deep ditch we crossed, and the gray field is the same bean field the previous picture was taken in. This hill is pretty hefty and long! We stirred up several deer in the woods on our way up, too. You can't really see it since Arabee's in the way, but just to the left of Arabee's mane in the photo is an old Indian mound - some of the tribes in our area used to build hills, or mounds for burial. I guess people used to find a lot of arrow heads and such here.

It was fun, and nice to be able to show her some of the areas I hope to be riding on soon. I'm working on getting her more and more confident going farther and farther from the barn. She was upheaded and observant, but quite content to stay by my side.