I could never ask for a more gorgeous day! Mother Nature has redeemed herself. It was cool and quite windy in Dog Valley, but Riyah and I had a wonderful ride in glorious sunshine. We went alone, and although she hadn't been ridden in a week, Riyah was perfect. We played the trailer game before we left for ten minutes, but she didn't pull against me; we just loaded and stood there, turned around, unloaded, reloaded, etc. Finally I closed the panel and off we went.

I had to be back in time for a dentist appointment, but I can say that I came very close to calling and telling them I couldn't make it. (SO tempting!) I would have loved to ride for several hours! We rode to the top of the Lower Sugar Loaf hill and took in the view, rode back down, watched a couple of deer go bouncing through the sagebrush, and then we trotted in a relaxed 7-8 mph fashion for the next 40 minutes. I did give her one short walk break so I could stop and take a couple of pictures.

Riyah was not even breathing hard when we came back to the dirt road leading to the trailer. We walked and leg-yielded the last quarter mile. She totally remembered her one-and-only leg-yielding lesson from a couple of weeks ago! She leg-yielded (is that really even a word?) to the left, we walked six to ten steps straight, then leg-yielded back to the right, six to ten steps straight, and repeat. She really impressed me, I must say!

Her breathing was completely normal when I dismounted and walked the last 30 yards to the trailer. She was only a little sweaty under the saddle and girth area. I do need to start taking regular accurate P&R's. (Pulse and respirations.) My gut feeling is that her recoveries are very good, but I don't really know for sure since I haven't got any recorded P&R's to go by.

The Easyboot Gloves that "don't really fit" (see post from March 27) have worked flawlessly every ride. I never tape her hooves with athletic tape anymore. I just pick out her hooves and slip the boots on, do up the velcro and away we go. (I am going to order her a pair of her own, since Keno needs his back boots back, though.) She is due for a trim and Keno is due again also; I can't believe how much hoof they are growing right now! It's crazy---seems like I just trimmed them both!

Riyah loaded into the trailer just like a big girl and we headed home. I love rides like that!

I made it to my dentist appointment which causes me big-time stress, but I had zero cavities! Woohoo! So to reward myself I saddled Keno (and booted him, of course) and rode through town to the outdoor arena. We had a fabulous ride--gotta totally love that boy! So willing. So easy. So reliable! So slobbery! Gobs of slobber all over his chest and front legs!

I plan to ride with Tammy tomorrow. Hopefully a 10+ mile ride. Gotta be ready for our big ride on May 14!