I wish I came here more often. It has so many beautiful sections. It is plagued by some boggy trails with mosquitoes and we have to cross a busy road to get here. But once here, Im always happy!
We found some wooden trails with occasional muddy spots to go trotting in. I took this video with my trail buddy J and her big percheron mare.
Buffet! I struggled to keep Q on the path and focused.
Much galloping happens on this path!
This section has a few streets that we have to cross. But there is practically no cars here.
Q enjoying the view!
The hunt field is one of my favorite spots. And the sun was out in full force with a cooling breeze.
It was a gorgeous day, and the sights were beautiful. With the tardy summer, the trails were a bit muddier than usual. My friend with her big percheron mare struggles with her soundness, and did not like the muddy trails one bit. She would have much rather stayed on the tried and true section 2.
But I am glad I went, and I am looking forward to going back. Perhaps solo. Q is getting to be quite solid going solo and I think we can do this.
It has been over twenty-five years since I did a solo trail ride bareback. Today was the day. Q was amazing, and gave me the confidence to ride on the buckle most of the way. When we came up to a road crossing, I got nervous because I could hear an unseen car climbing the road and was afraid it was the roadster sans muffler that had been gunning it up and down the road earlier. So I asked Q to trot, and he steadily complied with the smoothest transitions. Comfy and confident! The last time I had done this was with my first QH Rocky that I moved from Canada to Costa Rica (in the winter - bad idea) to live on the Pacific Ocean with me. We would go ride on the beach and in the ocean and bareback was the way to go. It was mostly walking around and I honestly don’t remember galloping bareback since my poney days as a teenager. Of course my new best friends bareback pad is amazing. It provides a little cushion, gives a stickiness to my seat with the suede-like top and adheres to Q...
It was a funny weather day. One minute black skies, next minute blue skies. I decided to abort my longer trail plans and stick close to home in case of thunder and lightening. Every time I would turn away from home the skies would darken. I did a pretty fast ride but am unimpressed by my stats, both average and max speed. I felt like my canter was pretty fast but it seems no faster than a good trot. Hmm. Im starting to think that I might have lost my mojo on my last fall and have returned to more conservative riding again. Hmmm. Well it was a humid day so we were both in a sweat when we returned. Q was happy to get a shower and some grazing. I was happy to end the day in my hammock. Tomorrow, a return to bareback in my new best friends pad.
Some glorious footing these last few days as we got a recent snowfall then a series of warm days. Makes for slushy footing and perfect for cantaloping. I was surprised to see some fellow boarders stick to the indoor arena, but everyone has a slightly different definition of perfect footing. My slowly greying horse is still very black in the legs, so wet sand and mud splatter does not bother me at all. Some folks consider any footing that might dirty their horses legs to be inappropriate. Both Q and I are always keen to go on the trails, so I restrict our outdoor riding only when it is unsafe (ice, heavy winds, hail). It is our plight as barefooters to be constantly aware of footing and I am relatively prudent when it comes to risks of soft tissue injuries. As barefooters though, we are fairly well equipped most of the year. Q has plenty of natural grip in mud, slush and those in betweens. But when the arctic freeze hits the wet tracks, we slump our shoulders and head to the indoor...
Every time I think Ive “got this”, Im proven wrong. In my defense, Q was so full of himself that he tried to balk and tell me that the trails were not safe today by shying at the trail entrance. I saw him coming, so I growled, leg on, and got ready for the 180 degree spin. That was the first time he did that, but my previous horse Jazz taught me everything I know about this stupid trick and it is SO much easier to nip these in the bud early on. Once in the woods he calmed down, but he was very very forward. Alone I had control, but once we met with B and started cantering all hope for control was gone. There was no cantaloping happening today. Even at a trot he was bouncy bouncy bouncy. Again, to his defense, his buddy Shadow was also high as a kite shying and spooking at every little twig on the ground which is not so amusing at a canter. So today we lunge, and then we ride solo on the trails and we trot and canter as much as we can. Footing should be good, and the weather is going to...
What a great ride yesterday! Q and I accompanied our past trail buddy who switched barns last spring and really struggled this summer with what appears to be seasonal headshaking. Bummer. I also tried something that seemed to work, but not sure if it's just coincidence. When his horse started violently headshaking (clearly in pain), I stopped and turned around to face him. The horse looked at me, stopped headshaking and I gave him a peppermint. In all, I gave him three peppermints during the ride (not when he was actually shaking), and it seemed to distract him? We also worked hard on keeping the pace low-key and the horses on the buckle. I did have to remind my friend to drop the reins several times, but I think his horse appreciated the lack of pressure. The headshaking seems to be light sensitivity, and perhaps some allergies as well. The horse wore a dark flymask to protect his eyes from the sun, and it seems to help. The symptoms disappear at night, and will likely disappe...
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