My broken heart is on the mend

I had such an amazing fantastic ride today, and I realized about halfway through that I trust Dixie, finally. I don't miss Champ quite so much. I love my hot hardheaded spotted yak!

Stats: 7.24 mi in 1:45, 4.1 mph.

I wanted to do 10 miles, but didn't quite make it. If I really want 10 miles without dealing with traffic, I have to do two loops of the mines, and that's just so psychologically boring and daunting - head out, "finish" the ride back at the barn, then ride back out AGAIN. So I just wandered and explored and made the whole thing a little bigger.

We started off behind the pueblo house, then headed down the sandy trails toward the mines. Took a detour and cantered down the Road to Nowhere and it was absolutely wonderful. I wasn't nervous at all, and Dixie was incredibly responsive :D Then we worked our way all the way down the mine canyon - over snowy rocks, downhill - and I just gave her her head and she picked her way downhill like a very large mountain goat.

I think ~C will know exactly where we went next - I went exploring up a gravel jeep trail I'd noticed off to the west, and I ended up on top of a hill where I could see Pyramid Hwy and Alamosa Dr. I'm pretty sure it leads to the boarding stable on the other side of the hill - the gravel jeep trail had old rotten hay and horse manure spread in the low spots. Getting to the top of the hill was a steep climb, so we took a breather for a minute then headed back down. I kept a little contact, stayed very light on her back, and asked her to walk, and she was perfect.

Dixie really had no sense of self-preservation when I got her, and she's really gotten so surefooted since we came to Nevada. :D

Slogging back home out of the canyon was hard. Deep, soft, wet sand and a slight but neverending incline. I kept her pushing at a walk, and every now and then I'd ask for some speed. I think we cantered once more on the way out and racked a couple times.