That did sound like a bit of a dicey situation with the competitive riders and the lady with the dog. I'm glad nobody got into too big of a bind. You want to be nice and help them out by getting out of their way, but heck, you have as much right to the trail as they do and since they know that there are likely to be other non-competitive riders on the trail, they need to make allowances in their ride plans, just like they would for any other "obstacle". I'm glad you had a good ride!
I didn't ride this weekend. Shirley's down with plantar fascitis in one foot and didn't feel up to riding on Saturday. He was going to try it on Sunday, but it turned out that I had quite a bit to do at the barn all weekend and just decided to not push it. I did have to rib him though and asked him what was gonna fall apart on him next. ;o)
Do you know that's what I've been battling with for a year?
We spent a fortune, nearly $500, on the special shoe inserts and their method for correcting it sold by NeoVita - Foot Comfort Center. It was a lot of money, but it really does work. I tried the cheaper inserts available on the web, and they didn't work at all. Unfortunately, it doesn't look like there's one near you. If he gets tired of it, and it keeps hurting, I'd recommend trying to find a place with good, fitted othopedics. It's made a tremendous difference for me, I was really frustrated by it last summer.