Let the Conditioning Begin!

I've been wanting to ride with Keith Kibler and his wife since I've been down here. They are endurance riders so they do long fast miles. I just have not been riding consistently or at any speed to have Lily in any kind of shape to keep up with them. And I didn't want to hold them back. But, as luck would have it, they were riding out of High Knob today going to Double M and back. The perfect opportunity to join them for as long as I felt Lily could handle. Being home territory, I would split off from then when I needed to and head home. They were planning to do 20 to 25 miles I was pretty sure that Lily was good for at least 1/2 of the if not a bit more. And the pressure was on Lily to set a good example for mules. Keith's one experience with a mule was a bit of a bad tempered one.

Lily was in a suspiciously good mood this morning. Came right to me and was very quiet when I groomed her. She actually barged onto the trailer to my surprise. Wooohooo. Keith was planning to get to High Knob around 10:15 to 10:30. I was there about 9:45. The day parking spot was full so JoJo sent me to the back of the camp to park in the hay field. Lily was excited yet calm when I unloaded her and made no fuss at all about being tacked up. I walked her up to Anthony's camp to say hello to them while waiting for Keith to arrive. I was so busy gabbing I didn't even see him drive by me but he sent me a message and I went back to meet up with him. Lily was a little jazzed up when we started out and wanted to play a little. But, I just spoke to her and quickly checked her back each time she started messing around she she stopped immediately. This speed work is new to her and she seems to be enjoying it but so far is behaving well. Lily did quite well keeping up with the group though I think they would have gone a little faster had I not been with them. We made good time to Double M. Lily was ready for a break when we got there. We too our time having lunch. I decided I would ride with them back towards my house and leave them at that point. Lily got out in the lead for a while on 184. She moved out good and set a real steady pace. I was surprised and very pleased. We stopped at Black's Cabin while Keith did a video blog there. Then I took them to a trail I thought they might not have been on and would enjoy. Lily put up a little stink about turning away from home but gave up pretty fast. Once they were on the trail, I headed home. Lily made no fuss at all about separating from the other but neither did she rush going home. She just walked along at her normal pace. Even when I took a wrong turn, she made no fuss and went where I asked her to go. I was so pleased with her today. She set a great example for mules with the group today and I had such a good time riding her.