Last Thursday we did a trail ride on Olbernolte at the Larry Chitwood trailhead. You ride in about 20 minutes, then get to a canal. We rode along the canal for awhile and got to be in the shade. It was 78 degrees! Absolutely wonderful, but unexpected, so I was wearing wool socks under my breeches, lol. Still, I was so thankful for the vitamin D! Nature’s pick-me-up.

I’m not normally a breeches girl, but Les and I got some AMAZING Kerrit’s breeches on sale at Riding ‘n Style. They are the most comfortable pants I have ever worn. Seriously. I would live in them if I had the choice. Sleep in them. Do yoga in them. Computer in them. Ride in them. They are awesome. Plus they dry really fast so when I forget about the laundry til the last minute (which I do all the time), I am not stuck riding in my least favorite pair of jeans (which are never in the wet laundry because they never leave the bottom drawer of my dresser). You’ll see my glorious breeches in the photos.

The breeches are a part of Les and my new decision to pretend we live in the tropics (Thank you Jeanene and sons, if you haven’t seen the video of the boys in a lagoon with their ponies, you must watch it!). We are tired of this year’s extreme weather, so we have donned breeches and are dressing for the weather we want! I braided Ilo’s mane, tail, and forelock and used a rainbow schema of rubber bands to tie of the ends. I joked with Les that we needed grass skirts for our barrels and that a lei would make a really good cordeo. I was completely serious about that second one. We’re going to the Dollar Store to find leis for our open house

Ilo and Koa were feeling tropical as well. And who wouldn’t on a day like this when the incessant wind and hail took a break for 78 degrees and sunny with the canal running?! Ilo and Koa trotted almost the whole ride, which is brand new for them. They have only done a tiny bit of trotting on the trail before. The Chitwood trail was particularly good for getting them confident because the road by the canal was level and smooth. Talk about heaven. About 1/3 of the way in, Les looked over his shoulder and said, “You know, trail riding with the dogs is my favorite thing to do on a nice afternoon. I don’t know when that happened.” I laughed. What girl wouldn’t want to hear those words out of her guy’s mouth?? Go us!

The photos are of us stopping to play with our shadows. We love taking pictures of the horses and our shadows coming together in the sand. Just something special about seeing you and the horse merge together.