My Daughter and I Trail Ride

We had a nice, warm weekend. My boyfriend had to work, but now that I know how both horses will do on a trail ride, I felt comfortable taking my daughter (age 10) out on Matt. Matt is her horse, anyway. I haven't done anything with Dude since last Sunday except feed and pet him. This time, I got Matt tacked up first and left Matt tied to my springy tree. Then, I tied Dude right next to him for grooming. They get along extremely well or I wouldn't do that. This made Dude more amenable to being groomed. I had to start at the shoulder and work my way slowly down his back to his hip and then down his back leg on each side to pick his rear hooves. For bridling, he wanted to back up, so I untied him completely and let him step back a couple of steps. He let me put the bridle on, then, with carrot bribes, of course. I took him out of the paddock, into the front yard for saddling and he was fabulous! He moved around less for saddling than he had for brushing! He barely walked around for girthing!! He stood still for mounting. I had a "senior moment" and cuoldn't figure out how to tighten my saddle while mounted. I had a mental picture of E's hunt seat saddle in my brain and went blank on getting my dressage girth tight. I had to dismount to get my helmet, also. When I got back on Dude stood still, but the saddle turned. This startled him a little, but not too badly. He circled a little more vigorously when I had to undo it and retighten it, than he had earlier. He continued to stand still for the third mounting. On the trail, when we came to one of the big ditches, someone had put some plywood in the crossing so our boys were hesitant. My daughter was getting alittle nervous, so I got off and led Dude and Matt through the ditch. Dude stood still for me to mount again on the trail. We had a nice ride. Some dogs started following us and we were afraid they were going to follow us all the way home. So, I asked my daughter if she wanted to turn and chase the dogs and she was all for it. Matt and Dude for for it, as well. Matt was snaking his head at them! LOL. the dogs ran off and didn't follow us anymore. It was a great, safe ride for my daughter and me. I think Dude is behaving better because he is learning that we are going to get out and have some fun and not do boring arena work. I've yet to try to canter him on a trail, but I probably will next time I have my boyfriend with me. Dude is getting what he needs -- lots of slow, relaxed work with me that lets him know I'm not a threat. I wish I had more time to do things like this with him, but with winter hours, the weekends are about all we have.

Another Good Trail Ride

My boyfriend and I took Matt and Dude for a trail ride on Sunday. Matt was saddled first and the kids rode him while I worked with Dude. I tied Dude to a small tree with a lot of "give" while I groomed him, so no trouble there. He likes to move ALL the way over when I switch sides while grooming him. No go at all on lifting the back feet, which is usually not a problem (?). He was slightly reticent about the bridle, but nothing like he used to be. He walked around a little for the girthing, but not very fast. I got the girth underneath on the first grab and got it in the buckle. I went side to side tightening. The only thing I had a problem with was my off side stirrup leather came off and I had to approach him several times and let him smiff it and see what I was doing before he let me reattach it. Carrots were given at intervals, of course. He let me mount from the ground with no problems at all. It took me until now to figure out he likes to be mounted out of his paddock because that means a trail ride and not ring work. Dude finds it hard to train his human. His human is a slow learner (LOL). On the trail, he was great. We even jumped a little ditch. As long as his Matt is with him he will go anywhere. They both balked at an up-bank ditch thru mud so we went around. Dude didn't want to drink out of the pond we found. The funniest part was when we came to a paved road through an empty field, it took me quite awhile to get Dude to step onto it. Even with Matt walking back and forth illustrating that it would not swallow up a horse, Dude was nervous until he felt its solidness. Dude responds well to my reassurances that something is okay. I love that about him. My boyfriend thought Dude was afraid of his shadow which was projected onto the road and I agree that didn't help the situation. Both boys went through ditches, mud, tire trails through high grass, and ditch banks on the side of the busy road with no problems. They ambled home with no trying to run and were generally a joy to ride. I only walked and trotted Dude. We walked a stretch I want to canter next time, but I want to check it good for holes first.