The Ride that Sucked.....

....sucked the back boots right off my pony's feet.   :-(

We started out jsut trying to have nice little ride from the Jacksonville Equestrian Center early to beat the heat and bugs.  We made a simple 1 hour loop on the roads and marked trails and were definitely not ready to start heading back yet....so Jenny took us off roading and we hit some swampy areas.  We were going along fine...felt like the mud was about 6 inches and the standing water was about 8 to 12 inches.  I felt a hitch and heard a different slurping sound, but had to wait till we hit solid ground again to see if I lost a boot.  When I asked if I was missing a boot, 2 people told me no....you still have them on.  Marilyn commented on her Sport Boots on her mule's front feet and I said they were the same kind that I had on Stylin's rears.....she looked at me funny and said you don't have any boots on the back.....   Dang it!  $100 down the drain....  We plan on going back when it dries a little and do a search.  These are the first Cavallo boots to ever come off my horse..... the Simple Boots (the original style) have never come off.  That's what we had on the fronts.

Anyway, once we splashed our way out of the water we hit the hilly trails and had a blast climbing up and down some steep hills...not very high....maybe 20 to 25 feet or so, but fun and a change of pace.

Mustang was going to be at the Equestrian Center for the rest of the day for the swimming competitions with her daughter at the facility next door, so I brought my 25 yr old Appy, Dixie for her to ride.  The old gal cleans up nicely and gave Michelle a great ride.  I love to watch other people ride my horse and appreciate this horse more and more each year.

We finished up the ride at the Equestrian Center and had some authentic Cuban ( or was is Puerto Rican?) lunch while watching the Paso Fino Extravanza. 

Celebrity

My girl, Stylin, was used in a photo shoot recently by Bonnie Estell Photography.  She behaved very well and I think they had a successful shoot.  I hope to be able to get a full size image from the photographer soon.  My daughter bathed her and took her to the location where she helped as a wrangler and jumped up and down in the background to get her to perk her ears.