Had to make do with a quick whizz round the block with Bounce this morning - and to be perfectly honest I'd had quite a hard time persuading myself to get up early enough to ride out - bed was just so warm and cosy and the sky beyond the curtains looked a bit murky and uninviting.
However, I did the deed and was really glad I had, because it turned out to be a beautiful morning, cold and crisp and blue-skied and it was a joy to be with my boy Bounce, just the two of us all alone on the quiet country roads. Well, alone apart from the skinny little lambs who went running to their indignant mamas as we trotted past their fields - and the two ducks who sent us skittering across the road when they suddenly launched themselves from the riverbank - and the entire field full of birds who lifted as one into the sky, chattering their disapproval at being disturbed in such an unseemly manner.
Riding out in the company of friends is always a delight, but when it's just you and your horse and you're getting on just fine together, and you see his ears flick back to listen when you talk to him - there's not a lot nicer in the world quite honestly.
As far as preparing for the endurance ride goes - so far I've just been concentrating on getting Bounce out for as many hacks as possible, but soon I'll have to start working out things like our average trot speed and calculating distances and so on. Today though - I just enjoyed the ride.
Here's my boy a couple of weeks ago, enjoying a bit of a cavort in the winter sunshine...
and here am I...my husband calls this one my 'Eskimo Nell' pose...
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