Arab Tribe on the Trail

3 very different examples of the Arabian breed hit the trails together this fine morning. Here's Launi, a CMK gelding bred, raised, and trained by his rider, my trimmer and friend, D. 

How did I get up here? She wonders   ;-)

Then there's Willow, N's fine boned, major blonde of an Arabian mare. She's a lovely sprite of a thing but a bit of a space case--though also known for very business-like, strong performances at actual rides.

With my shadow, all 3 of us are in the pic

 Then there's Desire, and we all know what she looks like. She falls in between, certainly built more stout than Willow but nowhere near Launi's height or mass. She was *very* business-like this morning, leading the way and tackling Sycamore Hill with her usual steady dog-trot. She really is getting good at hills, after not having the wind for it at all when I started riding her last fall. The giant hill in the Wildlife area we've been riding is a doozy for conditioning, N and Willow are going to trailer over to have a go at it soon.

We braved the Lakeland end of the trails today, a spot I haven't parked at since my truck was broken into there over a year ago. The trail head is down a few narrows roads and through a sketchy neighborhood, so leaving your vehicle out there for hours isn't ideal. D still rides there quite often and on her assurance that there was a regular Monday hiker/visitor there in the a.m. to keep an eye on the vehicles, N and I joined her at our favorite end of the trails.

Fall is in the air, the weather is perfect, can we ride all day??

Here comes the brigade

Willow star gazing

Desire and Willow are in mare-love. Here they are commiserating at the top of Sycamore Hill

After a few miles D had some old Easyboots disintegrate on Launi's hinds so she branched off and headed back for the Hill and the trailers, while N and I continued up the dam and to the Visitor Center, a nice turning around point as it's always shady and there's a sparkling clean water trough there. A friendly couple taking a break from their hike asked about the hoof boots and then took a photo of us with my camera. Miraculously, it was in focus and we all look pretty good!

16.5 miles, my highest mileage in the Renegades to date, and didn't have a single issue. Last night I replaced a few straps and tightened the cables on both hind boots as I had just been using them as they came and my studies suggested they needed tweaking for an ideal fit. They stay on great anyway but if I never have to screw with a boot again I'll be happy, so I wanted to give them every opportunity to perform correctly.The boots stayed on great today, they were filthy and covered in stickers at the end but all stayed put, no rubs, and came clean with a high power dose of hose. Happy redhead!