On The Road Again

Since returning to Farcical Farm I've had plenty of time an inclination to do something that I've been otherwise unable to do for months: ride Tonka. I could never take him out alone while Raven was failing for fear that she would hurt herself in his absence. For a while she was able to pony around with him, but even that became too much for her in the final weeks. So they basically stood at the feeder day and night, eating and eating. I watched Raven get mysteriously thin (another symptom of DSLD) while Tonka got downright plump. Now that he's on his own he is moving around a lot, getting leaner, and able to take me on some light conditioning rides. Yesterday we did an hour along the road at a walk (plus 60 seconds of a very nice pace, even though I asked for a trot) and he was a little sweaty when we got back, but not breathing hard at all. I took care of the sweat by asking him to walk over the sprinkler several times, which he was doing quite gamely by the end of it.

Note the super cool saddle pad that Georgia (owner of Pepper and Scooby) gave me. She made it several years ago when she used to ride english...it's a regular pad, but with a large pocket sewn on either side and straps at the back. I love it!