Striding out and a big wind

This weekend I didn't get as much saddle time as I had hoped for, as we attended a memorial wake for the dad of a friend of ours on Saturday, and Sunday turned out just beautiful - perfect for Mother's Day. Thanks to my daughter for the lovely bouquet of roses and carnations, my two favourite flowers, and the phone call and FB message- I felt loved! The best thing about being a mom is having an amazing daughter that is the light of my life.
I saddled up Delia, and decided to step it up a bit- limited the review work to a couple of minutes and didn't go into the training pen, just stepped on in the yard, did a couple of pre-trip checks to see where she was at, and headed down the road and into the hayfields that I rode through on Beamer the other day.
She was awesome.

My focus was to make this an enjoyable ride for both of us, and to see how she reacts to different things. She's pretty sensible and other than a few trot steps that were unasked for, she didn't put a foot wrong.
She trucked right along, looking at everything....

I did ask for a few things, like bridling up a bit if she was getting too looky, and some lateral moves, walk/trot transitions and changes of speed at the trot, all of which she did just fine. So that means.... we are ready for some real trail rides! I want to haul her to a local outdoor arena today, if I can pry the pick-up truck away from my husband; he's delivering loads of composted manure for gardens today.
About 7 PM the wind started howling here, coming from the east. It went on until dark- I looked out the window when it started to check on the horses, and there was Beamer, standing head on to the wind, when he could have been in one of his 2 shelters, silly boy!  He did go in after a bit.
This morning I surveyed the yard for damage, all of which was minor except for this:

Good thing those chutes were built solid or this granary would have been about a half mile away!
No other damage, other than a bit to some of my plants when a little decorative lighthouse got slammed into one of my oak barrel planters, and pails and chairs scattered around. The horses have good shelter on all sides except the mares when the wind is from due south.
Nice and calm today- time to ride on!