Cruddy Work Day, Delightful Ride

Just a quick change of pace here ...

Holy cow, work has been pretty icky. I guess that's why they call it work. Driving home yesterday, my normally low blood pressure (at times almost dangerously low, so thank you, Cruddy Day, for boosting it up a bit) was anything but. The day had been a real stinker. To top it off, every driver on the road was aiming for me, and every single traffic light timed itself to hit red as I approached. I got grouchier and grouchier as I neared home. By the time I walked through the door, I was a ball of pissed-off hell-fire.

I took a deep breath as I walked down the hall. Tobi beat me to the bedroom as is his habit. He was ensconced in his bed with Lambchop tucked securely under his feet. I kicked off my shoes and sat down on the carpet to give him his quick five minutes of belly scratching and tug of war before I booted him back outside while I made my daily trek to the barn.

Photo taken last night, and yep, that's Lambchop at his feet. EVERY part of that toy squeaks, much to Tobi's absolute delight!

Once Tobi had his five minutes of woo hoo this is great!, I pulled on my muck boots and headed out to the barn. I was still feeling some tension, but my attitude was definitely getting an adjustment. It is amazing how five minutes of dog time can erase 8 hours of crap. 

I pulled into the barn and heard several welcoming nickers. Ahh ...

I zipped through my barn chores: hay for everyone, stalls cleaned, and beet pulp readied. Sydney was the dirtiest he's ever been since I owned him, but even that couldn't chip away at my happier attitude. I scrubbed his back and girth area clean and saddled up.

Our ride went just like last week's did: A warm-up walk with my hands planted firmly into my thighs, pick up the trot with hands still at the thigh, and several changes of direction. I only needed to ride for about 20 minutes to get a nice walk, trot, and canter. We even managed a pretty decent right lead canter.

Life is pretty dang sweet.