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[RC] WooHoo... great training ride today - Chris PausWhile most of Kansas horsedom is in Wichita for EquiFest today, I took my 5YO mare out for our first real trail ride in months... probably since last October. We've been schooling on roads because it's just been so gawdawful muddy here, but today it was 60 degrees and sunny, I couldn't stand one more road ride.. I had trail-itis real bad! It wasn't an endurance ride, but it did my heart good anyway!
Star saw me hitching up the trailer and he hightailed it to the far corner of the pasture a quarter mile away. OTOH, Ali saw me with a halter and lead rope and came right up to me.... choice was, slog through mud and go chase down Star, or take the horse who was standing next to me....LOL We hauled over to the lake for a real ride on trails. We first took the toughest few miles on the whole trail system. It's a series of switchbacks up and down a steep hillside. Our work "on the bit" served us well. A few cues and she hunkered down on her butt and went down the steep hills just perfectly!.. She was huffing and puffing a bit... these are steep hills and now I know how much fitting up work we have to do! But she's got so much heart and really wanted to do her best for me.She went over logs, through mud and across creeks. After the tough hill work, I noticed the saddle pad was slipping (I tried a different pad today). We went back to the trailer to fix that and to take a little rest break. i figured this would be good training to let her know that sometimes we stop and then get out on the trails again... We headed out again on the easiest loop, terrain wise. Quite a bit of mud, but mostly flat to rolling terrain. Ali was just awesome! We had a nice canter, did some good trotting, and she did a nice extended walk for me. We just need to work on fitting up now and I think she has the potential to be awesome! We also need to work on eating and drinking. She wouldn't touch her lips to water until after our second loop, and then she was more interested in her hay bag. But, when we got home, she shoved her nose down to the grass and started wolfing it down, LOL.... She's well on her way to becoming my "go to" horse. chris Oooooh... I heard the spring peepers today....! "If I fill this moment with gratitude, the next moment can't help but bring blessings." Chris and Star BayRab Acres http://pages.prodigy.net/paus
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