Sunday, March 8, 2009

The woods are lovely...


Every Sunday is a riding lesson day come heck or high water. Blondie's getting better than I am a whole lot faster, so we need to work on this, haha. Of course, the last few Sundays have been torrential pouring rain, an arena that turned into quicksand because the drain failed, and today, it's snow. Yay.

I try after every lesson to take the dogs out for a run on the trails where we ride. We pick the ones that are too narrow for the horses so that we don't bother any other riders. Of course, last week, it ended up being a horrible mess, pitch dark, pouring rain, but it was the first week we'd traveled back there without Gabe, and I just wanted to go and walk and think.

The Corgis had fun, and they always do. You could sort of see them shuffling into their new positions a little - Piper was now lead dog instead of Gabe, and took it very seriously. Instead of bolting into the bushes and emerging out every three seconds, she stayed mostly on the main. Simon has taken over the 'make sure you're still alive' position. He stops and waits, turns his head to watch me and once in a while, there's a bark. "Hi, back there, hurry up!"

Riley, of course, is no different. He sometimes trots off for a few moments of excitement when we turn onto a trail we've never walked before, as you can see here with his bum leading the pack. It never lasts, though, and soon, he's back at heel, with a sigh and a "ho hum" been there done that look.

(I will mention that a) it was starting to rain, and b) dark as heck, my camera hated it, whoo. I will also mention that this is the first time in an hour or two that Piper was standing still and not vibrating. I think she was just recharging for a second in this picture.)

I love the woods in the Puget Sound, though. That's the thing I would miss if we ever moved, the hours in the forest, just walking and looking and enjoying the trees and the damp. It's gorgeous.

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