Riding and Swimming

Oh, my!  How the time has flown.  There's been lots of activity around our house and we've been on the road, too.   Only one day after I returned from the quilting retreat, we took off to Iowa to visit the kids for Thanksgiving.  Although we were gone over two weeks, we were very busy the whole time.  That 1072 mile trip (one way) seems to get longer each time we make it.  Thankfully, we did not have any weather issues to contend with.  


After spending the holiday weekend with the kids, I took off to Minneapolis to visit an old friend.  I sure do miss that woman.  We've been through a lot together in the past 25 years or so.  Her new love is riding.  She took me to the stables with her for her lesson on English riding and dressage.  She's looking into buying her own horse and had one at the stables "on loan" while deciding whether to buy or not.  He is a gorgeous animal but is absolutely huge.  Not fat, but very tall at 16.3 hands.  

Here's my friend standing behind the horse.  She's about 5'9" and you can't even see her head over his withers.  Can see only the very top of her helmet.

Ollie is a beautiful thoroughbred.  Tall but very narrow, so don't know if he will work out for her in the long run or not.  May not be the right fit physically.

That is not the most technically beautiful photograph but it shows the horse's lines. 


On our way home, I spied a flock of wild swans and just had to stop for some pictures. 

Bottoms up!!!

The visit was way too short but you take what you can get. 


Y'all take care.