Late again had to go on the 10am, Duke was great

Great ride today.  Its funny There were so many guides and so many riders too. The ride split up 3 ways.

Jess told me - ** the blue strap Duke wears is because of his shape it keeps
his saddle straight. 

I was on Duke, Hershey was behind me and Blue was in the front.  At around the middle of the ride after the split with the walkders after little desert, Jess (Sheila's daughter) came in the front of me. I think she was trying to help the woman who was on Blue, get him going during the trots.  Jess told great stories about Blue and Rizo, Mariah, Blueberry, Tacoma (I think) and others too. Jess said that two of her horses were Blue's children.

The ride was great even though there were so many children. The kids went mostly on the walk ride.  The guides on our ride, were Sheila in front Amanda in the back and Jess in the middle.
We had 4 trots and one of them was very long. I loved it so much.  Duke rode perfectly behind Jess's Mariah. There was so much mud this weekend I saw mud where I hadnt before.  Jess said she trained Blue and Smokey and that they came together at the same time, they were both about 3 years old. She said that those 2 horses were kinda tough training.  I liked being with Jess she told great stories and I loved learning more.

On Sunday Duke let me get very close to him and hung out.  He is a sweet boy.  You can see his Brown eye.

Duke's white eye, He is a beautiful horse with his trained horse style. Like Hershey he is classy guy.

I didnt expect the ride to be such a great trot ride. So many people but it was smooth because of the guides I think. The 3rd trot was very long, up a hill around a corner and down the next hill. I was so happy. Blue did slow down a bit but the Jess got up behind him and tried to make sure he kept up the trot.

At the end of the ride I did get to get off Duke on the ground. I love when I get off on the ground. Enja is good at knowing that I like to get better at my horsemanship.
I was too late for the 9am just as I had arranged.  I needed to call Bobby to get in the 10am.  I had missed a beauty of a ride, only 2 people maybe only 1 person.

I went and got a coffee before the ride and then took a drive to Vine Brook Road at the end of Powers Road to see if I could access the little dessert. The area was posted as no tresspassing unless you were a resident of Vine Brook Road.

**The strap on Duke is called a :  Breastplates, breastcollars or breastgirths attach to the front of the saddle, cross the horse's chest, and usually have a strap that runs between the horse's front legs and attaches to the girth. They keep the saddle from sliding back or sideways.