Wed update

Phoenix in the turn out

  Phoenix and I had a great week.  I was able to ride her almost every day and we bonded a lot.  On Wednesday Phoenix and I hit the trails for the first time in forever and went on a 5 mile trail ride in the desert.  I rode her Western with her gymkhana bit and reins because I wasn't totally confident about how she would react off of the ranch.  She was a little nervous walking past some of the huge farming equipment on the way over to the desert, but in the desert she was ok, just a little excited.  I made Phoenix walk for a little bit and then we trotted and loped up the dunes.  Since the military was testing stuff a little ways off (it was government property) , we went back down the dunes and I trotted her in the desert in the other direction.

  The desert path (only non government strip) stretched for a few miles and I trotted Phoenix through most of it, working on give and take.  It was a particularly windy day out and there was a point where I had to dismount Phoenix and lead her past a box spring with flappy sheets on it (I have no idea what it's doing out there).  On the way back to the road crossing that led to Rocking 45 I let Phoenix lope for a little because she was listening pretty well.  She kept tossing her head and tried to buck me off a few times, but eventually I got her to lope smooth for a mile or so and then we walked back down the lane to the ranch.  

   When we arrived back at the ranch, I wasn't quite ready to quite riding and Phoenix had a lot of energy.  I decided to work bareback for a little bit because my riding position and legs need some work.  Phoenix did pretty good, though I wasn't riding quite as well as I hoped.
  I set up the caveletti and worked Phoenix over the jump a few times in both directions.  It went well and I'm getting more comfortable jumping her.  Just last week I was nervous going over the same jump in a saddle.