Falling in to Winter

This week in east Tennessee was a warm one.  Today's high was around 68 degrees which is pretty darn warm even for this area.  In fact, today was our local Christmas parade and I can remember every other year I've been here it has been bitterly cold and I've not wanted to go.  I didn't realize the parade was today otherwise I might have gone, but then I would have missed excellent riding weather.  And one can't miss excellent riding weather this time of year.  The fall is coming to a close and we are headed in to winter.  We've been blessed with mild temperatures so far but everyone is calling for a cold winter this year because last year was mild.  So, I'm going to enjoy the nice weather while it lasts.

Earlier this week Chief and I hit the trails on our own.  We took the Creek trail to connect up to Pumpkin Patch Hill.  Chief was being lazy on the uphill per usual and I kept having to urge him on.  But as we made it to the top of the hill we then cut across to Rocky Top trail.  There is a nice flat spot for cantering through the first part so I took the opportunity to try out asking for the right lead.  Yes, we are still working on leads and though Chief has gotten much better, he still isn't consistent.  I'm also trying to make my signals less obvious. Right now I am holding his head to the left hard and using the inside right leg hard to signal a right lead and while it is effective, if I were in a show ring it would be pretty ugly.  So, we are working on consistency and being a little more subtle.  Midway through the Rocky Top trail you have to cross the gravel road which gives you a nice view of the area.  The picture below is of the little pond and in the distance is a little white building.  That building is a church that you pass on the drive up to the barn.  This time of year with the leaves all down, you really can see for some distance.

   From there we headed back down towards the Submarine trail.  There are some nice flat spots to canter here as well.  But we had to stop and take in the view of the creek as it really was a nice afternoon.

There are a lot of new trees down, luckily most of them have fallen away from the trail rather than on it.  But you can see this tree has made it into the creek.  I guess we've had our share of inclement weather recently which brings the trees down.  From the Submarine trail Chief and I headed up the short route home towards the other ponds rather than the Creek trail.  Prior to hitting the trail, we had spent a little time in the arena so I knew Chief was getting a bit tired.  So I thought the short route home would be a good idea.  It was a nice little ride and we added some time to the log book.

Til next time, happy trails!