Back in the saddle

I had a great ride with Gabe this afternoon.  We went out on the trails for about two hours and Gabe did fantastic.  He's even starting to pick up a nice neck rein.  We rode through an area with a couple of really spectacular old hemlocks.  One of the trees had a hollow trunk and had an active honeybee hive in it.  The trainer knew I would be interested in seeing it since I keep bees.  He said that there have been bees in that tree for the last twenty years.  Honeybees are in such terrible trouble, it was an unexpected gift to find an active bee tree. We marveled that those couple of trees had never been logged and neither of us could figure out why they had been left.  It's a miracle that they are still standing.  Maybe those bees have managed to protect their home all these years, it's a very old hive.

The weather has suddenly remembered that it is March and it was horribly cold yesterday and last night. Today though, was in the 30's and sunny and ended up being a great day for riding in the woods. The trainer told me that if I ever want to part with Gabe, I should call him first. It's a good sign when the horse trainer wants to keep your horse:)