Moonlight ride

My husband and I both looked like shaggy unkempt ruffians, so we headed out to get our hair cut this afternoon. Well - his was longer, so we made an appointment at a new salon for him. Then I liked what the owner/stylist did with his hair, and she had time for me, so I got mine cut too. We look stellar, yall. The new stylist is completely off her rocker insane, but she's really funny and great with hair, so we'll be going back.

When we got out of there, it was about a quarter til five. I looked at the setting sun and the rising full moon and decided I had to ride. I dropped him off, picked up the dog, and raced out to the horses by 5:15. I tacked up Dixie with the double reins and we headed off to do a little schooling.

It was pretty successful, I think! I've yanked the stirrups as far back as they'll go on the tree, so I can keep heels under hips if I sit slightly forward in the saddle. Now that I'm not fighting the stirrups, I can think about the upper half of my body. I have a tendency to lean forward when Dixie speeds up, so I concentrated on keeping my torso straight. Following her head with my hands is getting easier, too.

Dixie behaved much better today than she had on Wednesday. She stayed at a slow walk or a flatwalk pretty much the whole ride, and she wasn't trying to evade the bit. She did want to rush home through the last paddock - completely ignored my half halts - so I let her rack right on up to the gate. Then we turned around and walked halfway back through the paddock, turned again (slowly, but not particularly gracefully), and flatwalked back to the gate. She listened to my "slow down please" cues much better! I figured that was a good enough note to end the ride on.

We didn't ride very far or very long. The trees and lakes are gorgeous in the moonlight! Very otherworldly. It wouldn't surprise me at all to stumble upon elves in the silver light. I wish I had a tripod to take full moon pictures for yall :)