Catching Up (again)...

It's been quite a while since I've updated you all on our riding adventures, so here we go with a quick update:

Star's knees seem to be responding nicely to the injections.

So far so good. She has been staying in the upright position and her knee and shoulder jerks have stopped for the most part. I have not ridden her myself yet, but she appears to have a longer stride and smooth gaits. Being able to reach and drive has really freed up her front end, allowing her much greater mobility. She is a new trail horse, ready to take the lead again.

Last week, my sister and I decided to head over to the creek for some photos. Unfortunately, on our way there we encountered some very rude individuals with their pack of dogs, most off leash. I tried to get them to talk, to acknowledge us, but they walked right on by without a word. Since they were so unfriendly, we didn't want to follow (of course they were going to the creek...) so we headed to the lake. It was a wonderful decision!

When we got there, the horses were very distracted with all of the long green grass. Usually we bring them there to eat, not stand around, so they were very fidgety. We walked around to find the perfect photo spot, when I spotted some geese resting on the grass near the water. Tee hee! *evil smiley* I pointed Mercy toward them and hoped she would take the hint. They all stood up when we got about 20 feet away and waddled toward the water. I asked Mercy to walk faster, to which she happily complied. We tracked them to the lake edge and then they took a short flight into the water. As they splashed down, Mercy got a little nervous. The noise was a lot louder than what I thought a couple dozen geese could make, oops... Now, only if we had some cows... ;)

We got some awesome shots! The lighting was much better for me to take pictures of my sister than for her to take some of myself, but that's fine. I like working on my photo taking skills. It took a while to get Star to stand still and as soon as she did a new group of people and tiny dogs walked by. This was where my better pics developed. Star loves little things, so her ears were forward, her eyes glistened, and she stood very still.

Mercy was not as cooperative, but Kimberly was able to get a couple of really good shots. I like this one the best because the goose in the back is raising it's rear out of the water as if to say "You didn't get me, nah nah nah nah boo boo!" Plus, her ears are forward!

There were a couple of other short rides since then, but this is the one from last night. We did the train track loop and tested out the new flank cinch for Mercy. She could care less, she's had them on before. Star was a little spitfire, so while on the track she took the lead. This gave her the chance to move out comfortably and Kimberly a chance to relax her hands and arms.

I'm really going to try and record EVERY ride from now on, no matter how small or ridiculous. It's been difficult because uploading pics are a pain in the ass, but I created this blog mainly to keep track of everything horse related as a personal history. So, look forward to more updated and more breakthroughs!