Riding With Heidi and Jack

Yesterday was a slightly chilly but brilliantly sunny day. I had a really hard workout at the gym at lunchtime, so by the time I got on Jack after work, I just wanted to play around with him and not work too hard. He was happy to comply.

Here he is watching some of the other horses get caught to come in for the evening. Don't you love his sticking up mane? I worked so hard over the winter to train it to lay to the right. But once I pulled it, it popped back up!

It was hard handling a camera and two sets of reins! Not that I needed to do anything other than hold them in one fist. We only need the gag rein when we're jumping so he actually half halts. The rest of the time I only use the snaffle rein. It's just a regular eggbutt snaffle then, and he goes great in it!

I am trying out these field boots. A barn friend doesn't wear them and thought they might fit me. I need new boots, so I figured I would give them a shot. They have a zipper up the back, and I'm not totally sold on that idea. I know the zippers need to be replaced once in a while, and I also like traditional pull-on tall boots. So we'll see what I decide. They're cute, though!

Here's my self portrait in a couple of the arena mirrors. Jack and I did a little jumping outside just for fun, then wandered back up here to finish up. He was a good boy and it was fun to just mess around with him.

And if you want to know what it's like to walk around on Jack, here's your answer! I thought it would be fun if I could take a video while riding. I might try it again when I'm using my dressage bridle so I have fewer reins to worry about. Then I could trot or do something else. Jack was just happy and relaxed. What a great day!