Oct 6th - Is this the end of our trail?? or the beginning?

I feel like this is the end! maybe not the end of our journey as we have a long life of trail riding ahead of us Kizz and I, but I feel like this is the end of our "trail to happiness!" I feel we've made it!!!

The last few rides have made me (and I think him! seeing as how we are going alone and he is happy, forward moving and not giving me a hard time to leave!) feel like we are THERE.. the happy spot!! I'm not as reluctant to go out and tack up, I'm nowhere near half as nervous.. I'm so proud of what we have accomplished in just a few months really!!   We have so many years of fun ahead of us! Guess this is really the Beginning! 

let me tell you about this ride...

I am meeting Kaaren on trail.. She's leaving in about 20-30 minutes she says, so I go tack up and head out, I know since I am taking the logging road to meet her, I have about an hour ride before I get to her turn off, so I have lots of time! So we head out. Kizz is slower and relaxed today.. FIRST TIME EVER when we have been alone! We take the same trail as Friday evening down onto the logging road. We trot some and walk most of it, he's very laid back! We have our bear bell on its jingling away merrily.. I'm SO SO happy I can't tell you enough !  We go almost to Kaaren's trail when we meet up with her and Odin. Kizz's ears perk up and he's excited to see them! When we continue on our way I see Kizz DOES have energy.. Energy to keep up (and pass ) Odin.. he has most definitely caught the BUG of competitive riding haha !

We go out of the logging road and down the 605 and back onto some trails that lead to the RR. We walk most of that, its beautiful!! We even stop and grab some apples from a tree and have a munch with the horses on them.. yum!

I am supposed to be home in like 30 minutes so we pick it up a notch! We trot and canter down the RR. Kizz keeps wanting to go in front but I keep him back. At one point later down the trail we are cantering in front and Odin's head and neck appear at our side in his vision and he TAKES off like a "bat outta hell" lol
I pull him back after a bit (after Odin has been slowed down) and he slows down.. what a bugger! Kaaren looks at me and says... bet ya didn't know he had another gear did ya!? hahah I said, yeah I've seen it in the field I just wasn't expecting to RIDE it! haha!! she and I decide at the Ditch on the RR to separate.. I continue on and once I get to my ditch to get off the RR and onto the camp road I see Odin and Kaaren cantering up to us! I guess Odin hadn't wanted to leave us! haha! so she and I go along up the camp road together.. We decide to split up in the big fields (eeeeek!!) but I don't want to do it on the pave in case kizz acts up.. I just ask him to trot all the way up to the 605 (he slows and asks to stop but he never stops on me or whinnies) I'm SO SO SO proud!!! I can't believe it really!!

We trot on home along the pave! I cool him out and run my tack in and then get ready to leave!
I forget to turn off my GPS when we leave so it's not accurate, but I love the loop we did, and how it shows RED where we cantered and Green where we walked and yellow would be trotting :) we probably did around 11 miles.

look at the ears up on trail! this is the logging road when we were all alone at first

When I get home we let our new boarder "Kit" out for the first time (she came that morning) and Kizz is super excited to meet her! :) (She is actually out of our old mare Katra that lived with Kizz and Coby from when Kizz & she were yearlings until 4)