Finally we have good weather!! Today is an absolutely lovely day. Sunny, in the 70's with low humidity, just perfect. Tracy and I had originally planned to ride yesterday. But, it was just a miserable, cloudy, foggy day so we rescheduled for today. Glad we did. Our plan was to meet at her place at 9:30 am. I did not work last night but was up by 6:00 am. I went out and fed, cleaned stalls and did a few other chores. I was not sure who I wanted to bring to ride. This being Tracy's first time on Ellie Mae, I though Marie might be the better choice as she is just so steady and experienced. I really wanted to take Louie so we could ride our mule together but I didn't want Louie, who is still figuring life out, to cause any problems for Tracy and Ellie Mae. Tracy was not anticipating any trouble with Ellie Mae and didn't care who I brought so I decided to ride Louie. After doing my chores I went in, had breakfast then sat in my recliner to check my email. Sitting in the recliner was a bad move. Next think I know I.... wake up..... look at the clock and see it is 8:50 am!!! AGH!!! I jumped up, made a quick cup of coffee, quickly dressed and rushed out. Louie loaded quickly and I left my house at about 9:15 am. Of course there was road work being done on my road to slow me down. Tracy is not that far from me so I was not too late. I think I pulled into her place at 9:40 or 9:45 am. I unloaded Louie and he was pretty quiet being tacked up.
Cindy on Louie and Tracy on Ellie Mae getting ready to ride
Today was the first time Tracy has ridden Ellie Mae. She fidgeted just a little about standing at the mounting block but not much and soon stood nicely for Tracy to mount. Tracy's husband took a few pictures of us before we headed out. After all, who knows what condition we'd be in upon returning.......Then we headed out with Louie in the lead. Right off we came across a road grader. Louie passed with no concern. Ellie gave it as wide a berth as she could but certainly made no fuss about it. GOOD MULES! We rode for a couple hours exploring some trails. Louie kept the lead for most of the ride as he is the faster walker. We kept mostly to a walk with just a little trotting. I didn't want to tire Louie out with his first 30 mile CTR coming up in a few days. All in all it was just a very fun and uneventful (in a good way) ride. We passed the grader a second time on the way back. Once again Louie did not care and Ellie just scooted forward a little. Once again, no big deal. Louie did have one moment when he got quite rattled over a dog on a cable runner. The cable runner was making a noise that frightened him as the dog ran back and forth. The dog's owner was in the yard and Tracy asked the owner if they would mind holding the dog so I could get by. They did and all was well.
When we got back, Louie wanted to stay with Ellie Mae and pawed a little while tied to the trailer. Before loading him in the trailer I had him bow for Tracy. Once again I underestimated Louie as he was as good as gold today. And Ellie Mae was great. She seems like a wonderful mule! It was a very nice ride on two very nice mules.
Louie bowing for Tracy
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