Thunder Overhead

Out on the Trails

Christina and I went out for a long--at least 2 1/2 hour--ride today.  We covered a lot of varied terrain crossing several streams on the way. Nordisk, the young fellow, led most of the way. He had a few stops at some of the water crossings, but patience and, in one case, a lead from the more experienced JJ--even with me on his back--got him through just fine.

There is a long, winding woodland trail behind Christina's barn that we followed. Apparently, it has several more miles we did not even cover on the ride with options to go to some local parks and other interesting places.

On the way home, however, we heard a rumble of thunder overhead. Sure enough, another crash and  a bit of rush of wind brought in a strong downpour. Nordisk got a little upset and even JJ, who is fairly immune to weather started to react.  We dismounted and led the boys home for the last 15 minutes of the trail, getting soaked ourselves in the process. Since it had been pretty hot and humid yesterday and not a whole lot better this morning, I have to say, the rain did actually feel good.

However, soggy clothes, soggy tack and soggy horses were ultimately not all that pleasant.

I was upset to discover when we got back that my girth had rubbed JJ at his right elbow. Hopefully he will be fine for Sunday's ride. I will use one of Christina's girths instead then. I feel bad about it, but what's done is done. It's not a horrible rub, but the hair is gone and the skin is irritated. Poor kid.

The sun is out again now, but there are still storms in the forecast. Nothing like what hit Colorado over the last two days--hope my blogger pals out that way are all OK!!  Here, the blessing is that the stormy weather is bringing back the cooler, drier weather. It should be super on Sunday for the pace.

I swam for over an hour yesterday in the college indoor pool. It would have been a perfect day to swim outside, but this time of year, most of the outdoor pools are closed for the season. I'm lucky I have a place to swim and it's a super nice facility.

I'll swim again tomorrow, keeping up my exercise program. I am about a half pound short of losing 20 pounds since I started with my nutritionist. I'd like to lose at the least another 10 pounds before I reach a maintenance weight. If I lose 15, I'll be back to the weight I was in college and that might be even better.

Onward and downward!!