Trail riding- good for the soul.

My brother is still hanging in there, I'd like to thank everyone for their well wishes and prayers.
I have had lots of Clancy time over the last while.
Shayla came over and we rode down to the river....

Really nice relaxing ride. I am using Easy Boot Glove boots on Clancy- can't afford the Equine Fusion ones right now with our dollar exchange rate at 30 % (!!!!!!) and I'm finding that the Glove boots work quite well.

I'm really liking miss Clancy. She suits me just fine!
I have tried a couple of different saddle pads on her, trying to find one that works best for her. She doesn't seem to like my Diamond Wool pad- too scratchy for her I think. Shayla lent me both a CSI and a 5 Star to try out, and the 5 Star was my pick. I found the CSI too fussy to use, and the top pad did bunch under my saddle where the stirrup fenders move back and forth. The 5 Star was a 3/4 inch, and it was just right; the saddle didn't move at all and there were no pressure spots. I used it yesterday when we went on another trail ride- this time a picturesque ride in some pretty country near where Janice lives. She and Dave and another friend, as well as Shayla and I all had a really lovely Sunday ride.

Dave and Skookum (Percheron /QH cross; Jenn on Moxie (Morgan) 

and Janice on Jazz, a Beamer daughter.

Shayla putting boots on her mare Rosie, and Arab/QH cross

Tess came along for the ride. She was a happy dog!

There's fresh snow on the mountains in the background.

I let Shayla take some photos of me and Clancy; I was trying to get Tess to come lay besides us here.

There were plenty of hikers in the area and we had one of them take a group photo of us all at the summit of the butte.
 It was a really good ride- Clancy was really good in the group, went wherever I wanted, was good in front, at the back or in the middle.  Can't wait for the next ride!