Anatomy of a scene
It was glorious on Saturday. I was meeting up with my buddy B and his TB, and even though the weather was a mild +4 degrees celsius, I was warmly dressed with my foot warmers. As I trotted down the trail to our meeting spot, I felt my left foot give way. I stop, look down and with shock see that my stirrup (western) has come undone. Uhoh.
Im standing on this narrow trail, sandwiched between the dog sledding trail and the atv/skidoo trail thinking about what I can do. Im nervous to leap off because I have this insane fear of catching my coat in my western saddle horn and being dragged to my death. We all know by now how fearful my horse is of dragging stuff. I really don't think I can soothe him through that challenge. And I dont want to loose the stirrup part that just fell in the snow. Why have I not been checking this when tacking up?
Mellow Q is just standing while Im thinking, and he is wondering when I plan on giving him a candy. I bank on his chill vibe, and literally slither myself out of the saddle using my leg on his bum for leverage. Yep, there was a peppermint in it for him after that. I get the missing part, put everything back together trying to figure out what hole it was in, and then walk on to find a stump to get back on.
By the time I meet up with B, I am pooped. (My poor sleeping of late is also a contributing factor) I mention that I probably only have about an hour of riding in me. He smiles, and takes note.
We hit an important intersection and I lead us left to the winter ravine. This section takes us to a more
open network of trails that has beautiful stretches but is also the hub of traffic of skiers, sleighs, atvs, skidoos, snowshoes, walkers, and riders. It is an area that can get windy and that I avoid when the temperature is below -10 or windy. But on a day like today, its perfect.
B tells me that he spent four hours the night before grooming all the way to the racetrack. Knowing how much he loves to ride the trails he has just groomed, I head that way. We crossed the x-country ski track 16 times and there was a lot of traffic. It is so much fun to see the little kids scream “mommy, a horse!” B and I often hang out at the intersections to say hi to the passerbys and indulge
in photo-ops.
By the time we were heading back, after multiple trot and canter stretches and two hours in the saddle, I was beat. And Q was chillax. So I didn’t pay too much attention to my surroundings as B led the way home.
We were under the powerlines heading towards and important intersection where multiple x-country ski tracks meet. We had crested a hill and were down in a gully on what is a fairly broad stretch of cleared land (100 feet across). And that is when I heard it. Sudden, and loud.
I usually pay attention to low vibration noises as they warn me of oncoming motor vehicles like atvs, skidoos, or grooming equipment. I know the drivers dont usually see me until the last minute, so it gives me the warning I need to get out of the way.
What happened next lasted 5 seconds. I hear the noise thinking a helicopter is going to land on me. Bs horse bolts. I pick up my reins. Q stops and turns his head to the left, and I do too. We see a skidoo leap the crest of the hill at 80 km/h 30 feet from us heading towards the intersections with the kids skiing . The ski-doo carrying kids of their own, does a hard brake to avoid collisions and then carries on down the skidoo trail. I say to Q “its all right”. B regains control of his horse, while Q never moved a foot. And a peppermint was had by my amazing trail horse that has won my heart.
B and I spent the next 30 minutes to home talking about the importance of trust, and bonding with your horse. The importance of those thousands of hours walking the trails, doing obstacles, and showing Q that he could trust me. I would not have blamed Q for bolting in that situation, cuz it was crazy! But I love him just a little more because he didn’t.
A short video of the “ racetrack” . Its about a 2 km stretch of flat, broad, groomed dirt road that only horses use . Awesome in all four seasons.
Im standing on this narrow trail, sandwiched between the dog sledding trail and the atv/skidoo trail thinking about what I can do. Im nervous to leap off because I have this insane fear of catching my coat in my western saddle horn and being dragged to my death. We all know by now how fearful my horse is of dragging stuff. I really don't think I can soothe him through that challenge. And I dont want to loose the stirrup part that just fell in the snow. Why have I not been checking this when tacking up?
Mellow Q is just standing while Im thinking, and he is wondering when I plan on giving him a candy. I bank on his chill vibe, and literally slither myself out of the saddle using my leg on his bum for leverage. Yep, there was a peppermint in it for him after that. I get the missing part, put everything back together trying to figure out what hole it was in, and then walk on to find a stump to get back on.
By the time I meet up with B, I am pooped. (My poor sleeping of late is also a contributing factor) I mention that I probably only have about an hour of riding in me. He smiles, and takes note.
We hit an important intersection and I lead us left to the winter ravine. This section takes us to a more
open network of trails that has beautiful stretches but is also the hub of traffic of skiers, sleighs, atvs, skidoos, snowshoes, walkers, and riders. It is an area that can get windy and that I avoid when the temperature is below -10 or windy. But on a day like today, its perfect.
B tells me that he spent four hours the night before grooming all the way to the racetrack. Knowing how much he loves to ride the trails he has just groomed, I head that way. We crossed the x-country ski track 16 times and there was a lot of traffic. It is so much fun to see the little kids scream “mommy, a horse!” B and I often hang out at the intersections to say hi to the passerbys and indulge
in photo-ops.
By the time we were heading back, after multiple trot and canter stretches and two hours in the saddle, I was beat. And Q was chillax. So I didn’t pay too much attention to my surroundings as B led the way home.
We were under the powerlines heading towards and important intersection where multiple x-country ski tracks meet. We had crested a hill and were down in a gully on what is a fairly broad stretch of cleared land (100 feet across). And that is when I heard it. Sudden, and loud.
I usually pay attention to low vibration noises as they warn me of oncoming motor vehicles like atvs, skidoos, or grooming equipment. I know the drivers dont usually see me until the last minute, so it gives me the warning I need to get out of the way.
What happened next lasted 5 seconds. I hear the noise thinking a helicopter is going to land on me. Bs horse bolts. I pick up my reins. Q stops and turns his head to the left, and I do too. We see a skidoo leap the crest of the hill at 80 km/h 30 feet from us heading towards the intersections with the kids skiing . The ski-doo carrying kids of their own, does a hard brake to avoid collisions and then carries on down the skidoo trail. I say to Q “its all right”. B regains control of his horse, while Q never moved a foot. And a peppermint was had by my amazing trail horse that has won my heart.
B and I spent the next 30 minutes to home talking about the importance of trust, and bonding with your horse. The importance of those thousands of hours walking the trails, doing obstacles, and showing Q that he could trust me. I would not have blamed Q for bolting in that situation, cuz it was crazy! But I love him just a little more because he didn’t.
A short video of the “ racetrack” . Its about a 2 km stretch of flat, broad, groomed dirt road that only horses use . Awesome in all four seasons.
Oh man. That could have been bad. For you, the horses, the kids skiing. What a stupid stunt to pull. And Q deserves all the peppermints.
ReplyDeleteYes! He has a tremendous supply of peppermints and apple crunch. After I saw the constant provision of sugar cubes to the Lipizzaner stallions in Vienna, I decided to forego caution and now have Q on a steady diet of treats. He loves it! And it just makes everything sweeter! (of course, no begging, pawing, nipping or being rude)
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