What a Lovely Ride....

So, earlier this afternoon, I brought my tack out in hopes of a wonderful time. I had thought about my plan for riding most of last night and this morning, and to be honest, I was a bit nervous because fifty percent of the time when I plan ahead, it goes perfectly and the other fifty percent of the time its a total failure where both Lady and I part ways a little disgruntled with each other.
Today was definitely as perfect a ride as I could have asked for. I didn't have much planned as a warm-up, but some Weave pattern and a little work at the trot and canter was enough. I'm still very very pleased about my new English tack: Lady is much more relaxed and doesn't hate to be saddled now. She has also been very patient with me while I learn all the new buckles and latches and things-to-know about English saddles.
So, happy with the warm-up and the saddling, I put her through a few more circles at the walk and mounted up. Reminder to self: work on mounting more smoothly and gently....
With lots of rubs and a few treats along the way, we walked AWAY from her pasture-buddy and around the main property line. She got a little bit excited for a while, but stayed pretty much on track with only a few reminders. Yay!
Trying not to be too enthusiastic and do a happy dance on her back, I set Lady on course down the gravel driveway. She doesn't really care for walking on gravel and wanted to veer off to the side, but it was mostly to get to the green grass on either side of the driveway. Once we got to the end of the driveway, she was still calm and relaxed, so I decided to push my luck and ask for a bit further. She is usually quite "herd-bound", and does not like to go very far from her friend or the pasture. Today, however, she was pretty happy to continue onwards. She stopped a few times to look around and then would try to sneak a bite of grass, and she is also quite nervous and wary of culverts. Cars, however, don't bother her in the least, and she thinks its fun to stand in the middle of the highway. o.O
Anyways, we finally turned around and headed back and I got a few steps of the trot at the end before stopping and unsaddling. I definitely need more work on my position for the trot.
I am quite pleased with the ride today. Since one of my classes is cancelled for tomorrow I'll have more time to ride again in the afternoon. Right now, I'm aiming to take a 5.7 mile ride next week since its Spring Break - hopefully Lady continues to be okay going off the property.

For fun, here is an older picture of my beautiful horse. Approximately 2 or 3 years old.