Another short conditioning ride on the girls!

Yesterday was fun!  Lida came down (or is it over) for another conditioning ride on Phebes.  She round penned her with a crupper OH THE AEROBATICS!  Ha!  But Phebes quickly realized that leaping into the air was work, and that was that.  We warmed them up in the arena muddy swamp land and pointed the ponies due south to the hills.  Our last ride was about 3 1/2 miles and we stretched this one up to 5/14.  You never saw two such sweaty mares.  We made it back unscathed even though both horses were feeling it with our balmy forty-something-degree heat wave.  Some bucking ensued as we clambered up and down the slippery hills and across the field.  Journey is like a spoiled brat.  I have had little experience riding her "with others".  At endurance rides we might keep someone sort of on radar, but I usually ride a nice empty pocket for a good part of the ride.  Here at home Phebes is on the bottom of the pecking order, and Journey is mad if she is behind Phebes and wants to push her, and if she is in front of Phebes she wants to buck and kick out.  We have some work to do there.  Hoping a month of leap frog will work out the worst of it, if not, stretching the distance should make it far less entertaining for her.  But all in all, we had a very pleasant ride, the weather was beautiful and it just makes me so happy to have Phebes under saddle again, and someone confident enough to climb on board.  Our only mishap of the day was a near miss with Lida's saddle.  We had just got home, stopped, Phebes did that horse shake thing, and suddenly dropped to roll with Lida still on!  CRAP!  Bit fat horse rolling around, Lida sitting in the mud, and all I could think was the heifer was going to mash Lida and her nice saddle.  But it all turned out okay.  We just had some clean up to do on the saddle ☺