April 17, 2017 
The Shenandoah Trail Riders and Horsemans Association had a ride on Sunday and I wanted to take part.  But Simon was off on his own adventures so Poe needed to step up.  And he did. Mostly. 

We rode out from Uncle Tom’s Park in Jerome, VA and did a lovely 2.5 hour loop.  Poe was really good for the first hour. He walked and did his smooth little western jog to keep up.  After an hour he started getting a little snarky.  He made a few more faces at the other horses that he was already making.  At one point he really wanted to kick Ellie’s mare.  No idea why. He has never been a kicker.  And he really disliked the mule.  Again, no idea why.  His smooth western jog and working wak started to turn into a jig and the last fifteen minutes of the ride reached a point of suck-dom.  Most of my games pony riding friends probably wouldn’t think twice about his behavior.  But having ridden Simon on trails for so long I am totally over the pony jig.  

Today my upper side abs are worn out and sore and I am so happy with Poe.  This was not his normal job and he did his best and really it was not bad.  Just not as relaxing as I have become accustomed to.  

After the ride we had a potluck which was amazing.  And then an Easter egg hunt!  I had forgotten how much fun egg hunting is!   I even found the egg with the subway gift card! Score! 

STRHA is a fun group.  This is my second year with them and I am looking forward to some fun rides.  Sadly a lot of them conflict with my mounted games competition schedule, but I’ll make what I can.  Oh and Uncle Toms Camp is so neat.  I in life’s a photo of the old pool.