hold on to these moments as they pass

Yesterday morning I rode Max again.  Max wears boots on the front and I am finally getting the hang of putting them on.  After grooming him I gear up for a wrestling match and was drenched in sweat the last two times.  Yesterday, though, the boots went on fairly easily.  I think it was me all along.

I walked him to the park with me on foot.  Max doesn't like leaving the barn alone at first, but with me leading him, he happily walks away like I am a horse too.  Once we are about four houses out, I can feel him relax and adjust his homing device to me rather than the barn.  Because the park is an equestrian park, there is a small mounting block right inside the south gate.  Max is about Foggy's size so mounting is easy with a saddle and this mounting block.  I don't think it would work out for me with Pie or Sovey.  I did see other mounting blocks around the park that had three steps.  They are locked and obviously belong to different people who are storing their gear in there.  

We walked the entire perimeter and I got to see a new part of the park.  Also, there are small trails through the "woods" (Palmetto and Palm tree woods) and Max and I coiled through those.  There are hidden caches in here so I am going to bring Maizie and Brian back with me sometime to find them.  

One stretch of the trail was flooded because we had torrential rains on Monday.  Max plodded right in and pawed and played in the water!  He was adorable.

I rode for about 45 minutes and then dismounted and headed back.  I regroomed him and grazed him in the lush church grass across the street from the barn (we have permission).  

I stopped at a tack store on the way home and bought another white fleece show pad for Max.  I have my quilted big pad and a white fleece one, but I am going to use another white one too. Max has high withers and I would feel awful if he got rubbed.

Today is another group trail ride!!!!  I can't wait - heading over now!