Pictures from yesterday's ride

This should have been James' graduation week.

Carol was going to arrive on Monday, and the whole week was supposed to be a blur of best friend fun and proud family moments, culminating in the graduation ceremony on Friday.

Of course, none of that's going to happen.

I know it's necessary, but I can help but feel cheated. This week has been a struggle, so I was really glad when Diana invited me to go riding with her yesterday.

 She rode Guaranteed and I rode Stealth.

We went out along the top, trotting and cantering most of the way. Then we turned around and rode back through the river bottom.

I had not been on the north side of the creek in a long time and was shocked by the extent of the beaver damage. We were able to ride around these trees, but we had to hop over at least half a dozen others. It was a challenging, technical stretch of trail, but also very fun.

As we were nearing home, a deer sauntered across our path.

Snort!

Of all the horses I am currently riding, Stealth suits me the best. I like his sensitivity and forwardness, and I have absolute confidence in his ability to carry me safely across whatever obstacles we may encounter. He's a lively, fun, opinionated ride, and I feel so fortunate to have him in my life.

This has been a hard week, but thanks to Diana and Stealth, yesterday was a little less hard than it could have been. Maybe tomorrow, I'll ride him again.