Today we ride

 Ever since our friends decamped to Parker, Karen and I have been working really hard to get our horses down the trail.

They're both fine in a group.

And the group can be small. If there's just one solid trail horse riding with us, everything is fine.

The problems start when it's just the two four of us.

It's not terrible anymore, but it can be frustrating. Roy doesn't like to lead, Olive gets stuck and inevitably, I have to get off and lead at least once or twice.

But not today! 

Today, we were ready.

And, surprisingly, so were Olive and Roy. 

We took turns leading. Roy walked out like a champion. Olive spooked a couple times, but never got stuck.

Everything is so green.

Large parts of the trail were muddy and washed out.

That didn't bother Olive.

That didn't bother Roy.

You can't see it in this photo, but there was a very low, very loud jet flying overhead.

Neither horse reacted to that, or to this cute, smiling coyote.

This was far and away the best Olive and Roy ride to date.

For more than a month, I've been saying that, if we just keep at it, these two will be going down the trail confidently by the end of summer. Well, I think now I can say they will be going down the trail confidently by the beginning of summer. I am so proud of them. I am so proud of us.