Enjoying the Brown Season

Here is the view from the saddle.  Oh Siera, your mane is unruly and you look shaggy!

Thank goodness you have such big ears so that we can tell...almost that you are a mule!

Fred,  you and your most handsome rider appeared to be happy and very content on the nice easy trail!

We were supposed to be looking for antler sheds but I was enjoying just being out with Siera and my favorite riding partner.

We rode out to look over the back valley.

You definitely want a mule here that is not suicidal or crazy.  Last year I was barely able to keep Siera standing still in this area, nor was I able to get her down this steep trail to the point.

Fred and hubby are at a rock point and I think it could be at least 100 feet or a bit more straight down to the valley floor.

The view is incredible though.

Fred and hubby continued along the top.  Siera and I meandered around looking for things.

In the summer this area is so full of undergrowth and the forest canopy is so heavy that you can't see the other ridge.

I was pretty proud of Siera though, she and I took on a very steep and nasty dry run.  A year ago she would have refused and we would have had a fight on our hands.
But I've spent a lot of time building up her confidence and she has spent more time maturing.

It was muddy, slippery, and steep.
I got off afterwards and rewarded her with some loving while my husband laughed.

Siera is not like his mule.  Fred, after all has about 20 yrs more riding experience than she has had.

After a hard climb out of the valley we stopped to let Fred catch his breath. Siera being a youngster was ready to go.

But she also needs a bit more 'patience' training.

She has actually come a very long way since we started working together.  I think she is going to be an exceptional rider for me.
She has the speed when I want it and yesterday she showed that she can dawdle along at a nice slow pace if need be.

And thus we enjoyed the 'Brown Season', the time before things turn green again.