Along for the Ride

Our friends Sean and Melanie stayed over last night before heading back to Lethbridge. Melanie has never been on a horse, and I promised her a Tonka ride this morning if the weather was good. Much to everyone's surprise, predictions of 20+ degrees and blue skies were accurate, and it was the first of our beautiful summer days. Much to my concern poor Tonka was sore again this morning, with warm hooves and a bounding digital pulse. I am going to take alfalfa out of his diet for a while. Most nutritionists agree that it is safe fodder for lamanitic horses, but some sources suggest that certain horses cannot tolerate it. Melanie did get a very short ride, but no one had the heart to make Tonka work for long. Raven got a longer ride, but was obviously feeling tender without her shoes. I established that the new bit is an improvement and called it a day.