The Great Big Outdoors

So far this week, I've worked all three horses.
Uh, don't you do that every day?

Well, yeah.
But this week I rode OUTSIDE.

I'll repeat....

OUTSIDE.

For the first time in god-knows-how-long I was able to actually work my horses in a full sized outdoor arena.

And all three ponies were amazing. Not a spook/flinch/buck out of either of my mares....

The Ponies in my back yard...

Of course RC was a little 'tard on our first ride. He wasn't naughty (I doubt that he could pull off 'bad' if he tried) but he was excessively enthusiastic about his work.
He even threw in a few bucks... well, little leaps through the air... Well, more like in the air - or slightly less on the ground- but either way it was funny. And adorable.

Delight and Tilly showed their true warmblood-ness by showing off their gaits to the maximum expression when allowed the room to do it. It was nearly too much fun.

Oh and I think I have a sunburn on the back of my neck. Turns out there is a learning curve to applying sunscreen for the first time in six months.
Face, check.
Arms, check.
Neck and chest, check....

Back of neck... missed.  Whops. 4

 Anyway, since I have some extra time on my hands (which is good considering the amount of mud on my ponies), I gave all three a thorough grooming, including hair cuts.

I cut three inches off of Tilly's tail because, while long, it had that ratty uneven thin pasture pony look to it. A bang job later... She looks like someone loves her and she could show her face in the show arena. Success.

Deli's tail is already short (but thick!), so I only conditioned it and picked it out.
RC has been cultivating tail all winter, with his tail in braids of varying intricacy for the past few months. And now, after nine years of work... It touches the ground. I conditioned it, but couldn't commit to banging it just yet.
I mean what if I ever enter an open show? I understand that best tail wins...

Guess we'll have to fall back on good training.