Good Reads

So this past weekend Chief and I hit the trail, I must say though it was pretty darn cold.  That's right early spring came and slapped us in the face this weekend with lows in the 40's and highs in the 60's.  Yes, this is cold to a born and raised Southerner like myself.  So I broke out the cold weather gear for this ride.  Despite the cold, it was beautiful out, sunny with white puffy clouds, see:

Looks like it's fake doesn't it?  Well its not and I took it with my iphone!  That piece of technology never ceases to amaze me.  But that is Chief and his handsome self!  We then took to the trails and even though it was cold, the Mountain Laurel is coming out.  If you've never been to Tennessee in the spring, you are missing out.

Mountain Laurel is this pretty white flowering bush and it grows wild in Tennessee and usually covers the hillsides.  Gorgeous in the spring...

Our route this time was the New, New Trail connecting to the Workout Trail connecting to the Rocky Top Trail a.k.a. Indian Rocks down to the gravel road and back via the Creeks Trail.  All in all it was another 1 1/2 hours to add to my Ride America log with the APHA.  Not bad for a cold Sunday.

Ever since about a month ago, Chief and I have really been working on picking up the correct lead.  So every time I ask for a canter, I ask for either the left or right lead, if he picks it up correctly, he gets lots of praise.  If he gets it wrong, I slow him down to a trot and ask again, and again, until he gets it right.  Before I was using solely leg commands but I've found that turning his head to the opposite of the lead I'm asking for, he picks it up better.  So if I ask for the right lead, I turn his head to the left.  Today I stumbled upon a great article about teaching correct leads and decided it would be an easy thing to put into practice.  Check it out:http://americashorsedaily.com/lead-on/.  This comes from the American Quarter Horse Association.  My Mother-in-Law has a Quarter Horse so I follow them on Facebook as well as the APHA for lots of good articles and information.

Lastly for this week, I wanted to let you know I am going on a horse vacation later this week.  We are going to the Rolex!  By "we" I mean my husband and I, Chief and I definitely aren't ready for that yet.  But, I found a great blog post about the Rolex today too: http://eventingnation.com/home/confessions-of-a-first-time-rolex-owner.html?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=facebook&utm_campaign=confessions-of-a-first-time-rolex-owner.  I love Reggie's Rules at the end.  Chief also abides by those rules!  I typically root for Becky Holder and Courageous Comet but Rafferty's Rules and Sharon White will have to be added to the list of those to watch.  I'll be sure to share photos from this weekend's events.

Til then!