In the week and a half following our first 50, Fetti and I have been on three trail rides, the first two in full tack and < 3 miles (and not at competition speed: fear not, I am not overworking my horse, these were social rides) and the third a 7-mile bareback excursion with my best trail riding friend.  This particular bareback ride involved all of the following:

– spook-in-place at a dog(?) charging the other side of a solid fence, complete with dust cloud
– trail-following while I fiddled with my phone to get the GPS tracking app turned on, twice
– ‘trail’ following that turned into more deer path than anything else

this doesn’t look very familiar

– letting me mount from a very wobbly tree on a very not-trail-like hillside
– lazy walk/trot moseying, both leading and following, past strollers and hikers and joggers
– numerous moments where I dropped flat onto her neck to get underneath tree branches
– leg yields as I micromanaged her between closely spaced trees
– impromptu pony ride for small children our riding friend knew from work

Good pony!