Vindication!

On Saturday morning Rick and I went trail riding. The Fhoenix was fitted with the suberpanel again for the back soreness test.

The ride went well, albeit better for me than Rick. I decided to take a section of trail that Peanut and I had walked on Thursday, but had never ridden. I enjoyed it, but Rick said that it was too advanced for him. Unfortunately, the new instructor and I are currently engaged in a lively game of phone tag.

At one point in the trail, Rick and I were cantering and trotting, but we were coming up to a stream crossing so we slowed. At the stream was a rider on what looked like a haflinger. He looked quite rustic, like he wandered away from the plowing for a bit of a ride. We exchanged hellos, and he told us that there were about 15 more behind him, all on the same horse. It's normal for a rider to tell you how many of them there are, bikers too, so that was pretty normal. He was right about the horse though, because quite a sight waited for us as we crossed the stream.

Coming up behind him were a gaggle of Amish, all on identical haflinger-ish horses. There were men, women, beards, and bonnets. We said hello, and worked on getting by them without causing too much of a fuss (especially as we had to go through them to get to the trail that we were aiming for).

No one has seen the like in Fair Hill, at least no one we talked to. Not only were they riding horses (idleness!), but it is hay season! We went to a number of tack stores afterwards, ending up just south of York, PA, and at one of the stores it was guessed that it might have been a church outing.

When we got back from our close encounter of the Anabaptist kind, I gaited him up the driveway to see how he was doing. I got a fabulous running walk down the center of the driveway. Much improved. At the top, I heard a noise behind me and found Joan's son driving a small dump truck up the driveway behind us. I was so busy listening to Peanut's feet that I never heard the engine until we got to the top. Peanut didn't give a damn. Good ol' Peanut.

When we got back to the barn and I took off the saddle, I tested Peanut's back again. He ignored me.

YES!

I think I need to learn to distribute my weight well, and some of my remaining issues with the saddle will end, namely the uneven pressure marks on his back.

Non-horse... but the Opera House's season seemed to have hit their site today (or yesterday). WHOOT. However, to buy tickets you have to buy some for three performances or more before they're open for individual sales in August. So... after calling Anne....

I am seeing Sinbad, second row. The site was a dirty, dirty liar and wouldn't let me buy the remaining front row seats. Pooh. Ah well, at least the seats are directly behind the ones I purchased for...

One Night of Queen. Yep, seeing them again, front row, two in from center aisle. I texted Anne to see if she was interested and she was all giddy. So, yeah, a little interested.

Also front row, center front (front row at the Opera House consists of all of 14 seats) for Whose Live, which seems to be the touring show of Whose Line is it Anyway. It has Ryan, Greg, that white dude, and someone else.

Haha, watch me get there for the first show (Sinbad) and realize that front row seats suck due to the height of the stage. That will be rich.

I already have my tickets for Lewis Black, front balcony, 2 from center. :D

My credit card is crying, but this is my entertainment for the year so hmph.