This is where the magic happens on a regular basis. So many beautiful trails from wide and sandy, to narrow and winding. Plenty of spaces to trot and canter and five ravines with little creeks at the bottom where the horses can sometimes drink. 95% of my trails happen in this section.
It was a stinking hot day so I came prepared with water bottle.
Double wide trails with trees growing in the median.
Crazy as it seems, Im often alone on these trails rarely seeing another rider, jogger, or dogwalker. Occasionally we see foxes, deer, goshawks, wild turkeys, and owls. Some have also seen coyotes.
Some of the trails are narrow and windy, shaded from the sun.
Some of the trails are great for long canters or fast trots.
These trails are shared in the winter time with cross country skiers and snowshoers. Each sport has their own trail, and so the riders lose about 50% of the trails in section 2 from November to April. I dont mind, as it helps me better appreciate the trails when we get them back in the summer. The winter trails are groomed with machinery and are accessible all the time, even for my barefoot Q. We only stay in during the ice storms.
Our barn is smack in the middle of section 2 with the best trail access in the whole region. We always have tons of options for 20-30-40-90 minute trails that keep us close to home. So many loops, so many choices. The challenge of course is getting motivated to go on the trails that are further from home.
Annual Trail Rides: 16/200 Self steering horse trotting down the trail of a winter wonderland. Mild weather at +3C. Did my familiar loop in my best time of 39 minutes. 10 minutes of walking, 20 minutes of trotting, 9 minutes of cantaloping.
Annual Trail Rides: 60/200 Its been a good week! Footing is great, weather is dry and sunny and almost feels like summer minus the bugs.Q has been giving me some good rides although he is testing the boundaries and I haven't quite perfected the lope on the buckle. Even yesterday he started out in a spooky mess jumping at shadows on the ground. I had my first ride with buddy B yesterday. It had been three months since we had last ridden together because we were both on covid barn schedules that didn’t match up. For the past year, he has been on a barn schedule restricted him to 5 days a week in 2 hour slots. Unfortunately that makes for very limited trail riding when you substract the time to tack up, cool down and wash up. But his dressage BO doesn’t understand because you don’t need much more than 2 hours to ride in a rectangular box. But he didn’t want to fuss or object, so one year later he is still in the same spot. As for me, things had been pretty loosey goosey from May to D...
After a month of shut-ins because of icy trail conditions, and a deep freeze with temperatures ranging from -18 to -30 ... what happens when the magic of fresh powder, bright sunshine and warm temperatures collide at the same time? Everyone plays hooky and heads for the trails! Conditions were just magical and my buddy and I headed out with our very fresh horses for 2.5 hours of pure bliss. We took a little stretch called the “race track” where the footing was glorious but our horses were so fresh that we kept it quiet at a big trot. It took 2 hours with lots of trotting and cantering before I had my horse back. But that is just what we needed. We saw riders, sleighs, skiers, ski-skaters, snowshoers ... and everyone had a big smile on their face. Our club volunteers had groomed the trails again in anticipation (third time within a week) so we were in footing heaven. And it was so warm (hovering above zero degrees) that we were perspiring under our winter coats. But our horses? De...
After a mostly sleepless night I headed to the barn for what I hoped would be a good ride on what was turning out to be a spectacular weather day. Temperatures had cooled to 24C with bright blue skies and a slightly damp track for some nice footing after all these days of rain. My hip was still hurting so I was going to take it easy, but I did want to work a good canter stretch with some lead switching in a particular spot. Q had other plans. At our first trot and canter he clearly told me that THIS.IS.NOT.FAST.ENOUGH ! Then he started his usual “dragon mode” of tight back, hard bouncing, head in the air and increasing his speed at every stride. Ouch, my back! I didn’t argue with him, but chuckled a bit at his antics. I used all that energy for good (as much as my back would allow) and worked on contact, leg yields, transitions and shoulder in. It was the best lateral work he has ever given me. But we have a date, in the arena, for lots of canter circles and then we will go back on the...
What a pleasure to spend the morning picking berries with my mom. The blueberries were not yet ripe, but the blackberries were starting to ripen. It was hard to see them from the trails but once we went through the thorny bushes they started to appear. Pickings were still a bit slim, and many of the fruits were a bit small. But we will go out two more times over the next two weeks and hope for more abundance. These babies were hiding behind some bushes My mom is 81 years young and still a firecracker. Although she stopped riding a few years ago, she still volunteers twice a week at the local horse rescue doing chores ... even stacking hay!!! Here is a picture of us on our palominos dressed up for the western pleasure pairs class. It was a hoot of a time, with tons of trail riding and the occasional shows. On trail, we enjoyed the nickname of the golden ghosts as we trotted and cantered through the forest. Mom & I on Mare & Son Things changed a while ago, and bot...
honestly, you make me want to move to Quebec!!!!!
ReplyDeleteLa belle province!
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