Re: Re:next ride season...Ihope

["Maryanne Stroud Gabbani" <gabbani@starnet.com.eg>]

One of the advantages of riding in the Sahara is that we have LOTS of room
for the horses, tho' we do give up little niceties like trails. <G> I've
done a lot of riding with loose horses and some ponying. We often take foals
out loose in the desert to learn about plastic bags, dogs, camels, pyramids
and other exciting objects. We do find that they are not so happy to pony
later and would much rather run free, but then who wouldn't. I used to take
my older mare out and let her loose in the desert, she was great at staying
close til the last time we did it. I'd gone out with a friend and we decided
to let the old girls have a run across a wadi, but there was a brisk wind
and we both lost our baseball caps. (No lectures, please. This was before my
kids bought me a Troxel for Xmas and made me promise never to leave it
behind...never have.) Anyway, Nim, who wasn't encumbered by a rider and was
enjoying beating Dorika for once in her life, scooted up the hill at the
other side and stopped at the top to see that we had turned our very
reluctant mares around for the caps. We got back, dismounted and played ring
around the rider for 5 minutes because both Dorika and the other mare were
so keen on getting up with Nim that they failed to see why they should wait
for a minor point like us. Nim waited patiently on top of the hill, from
which she could see the stable below, for a while, then gave a loud whinny
that sounded suspiciously like "Look, if you guys can't get your act
together and come along, I've waited long enough and I'm going home. So
there."  People at the club were a bit surprised to see a white mare in a
halter trotting calmly in from the desert, but she went into her box and
helped herself to lunch.  Like I said, it was the last time.

Maryanne Stroud Gabbani
Cairo, Egypt
gabbani@starnet.com.eg


Wellllll, since you asked :)  I would be very concerned about letting a
horse
> run loose on the trail.  Not necessarily for the safety of the horse or
the
> horse your riding,(although that is a concern too) but what about other
> riders, hikers, bikers, etc. that you might meet on the trail?  I'm pretty
> sure if my young horse saw a loose horse running on the trail, he'd want
to
> go too -- that's more than I want to deal with!! A loose horse poses all
> kinds of potential danger.  I love the idea of exposing the youngsters to
> trail stuff, but I do it with the lead rope attached at all times to the
> youngster.  That way they learn some discipline as well (which they can
> surely use).
> Happy trails!
>
> Sylvia, Harca, Star & Chance (you can turn me loose, realllllly you
> can....I'll be good)



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