Belated post - Labor Day ride

This post is very belated, but I've been busy! I just now decided I needed to take a break from studying and do something "horsey" even though I'm stuck down in Madison right now. So, I found some pictures I haven't posted yet!

These pics are from a ride that my husband and I took with our neighbor's, B and J, over labor day weekend. We trailered to a nearby dirt road where we could ride someplace new and not have to hit pavement at all. My horses stood patiently at the trailer...I love that...a calm sleepy horse tied to the trailer waiting for their ride.

The road meanders through a lot of county land and is primarily wooded with a few logged areas. It is also home to a lot of wildlife. We saw wolf tracks several times along the road (I'm pretty sure they are wolf, as they are known to be in the area).

Todd rode "his" horse again.  He and Cody got along pretty well, except that at one point when we were cantering, he said she planted her front feet and gave a hop...I didn't see it happen.  But I wouldn't put it past her.  Todd isn't the most polished rider, so she could have easily been irritated by something he was doing, especially by over-cueing her to canter (which he admitted he did).  But they got along just fine...that doesn't worry him at all, which I'm pleased about.  He can handle it!

This is my favorite picture from our ride.  B and J rode ahead a bit side by side on their walkers.  They looked so cute together as they crested the hill among the trees.

My baby girl turns 1 year old this Saturday!!!!  I can't believe how fast this last year went!  I've enjoyed every minute of it and am looking forward to her ever changing future!  She is so fun right now...saying some words, super mobile, giggly, good-natured, interactive, loves being outside and her animals (which is one of the hardest things about being in Madison during the week for school - she is just so outdoorsy so she feels cooped up in the apartment pretty quick).  But she is doing super well and adjusted to the change really well too.

Riding with friends

School is looming and this week has been busy with getting ready for that, so I've not ridden horse since the weekend.  But this last weekend, I spent some time riding with my neighbors.  Their daughter was visiting and they wanted to show her some of the trails and they asked me to come along!  I rode Chico on one of the days, and Catlow on the other.

Remember I've mentioned that my neighbor has all dark horses?  Technically, a few are dark bay, and smokey black, but from afar, it is difficult to tell the difference between them!  And it is difficult to tell even when I'm riding with them!  I always have to ask, because when they switch tack around, it makes the horses look so different! 

These horses are Shady, Belle, and Honey Doll.  Belle and Honey Doll are the two that B and J have been riding most often this summer.

The previous picture was taken from the point of a ridge that over looks our houses!  You can see both my house and B and J's barn and shed.  In the lowest shed belongs with the cranberry marsh visible on the left side of the photo.

We saw a turkey vulture in a dead tree alongside the trail.

The next day, their daughter rode Shadow (gelding) instead of Shady (mare).  Shadow, even though he's a sibling of Shady's, is quite a bit flashier of a horse.  He holds his head and his tail high and has a very swingy walk.

The three of them followed me up "Buck Pond Valley" to check out how much water was in the little pond (there was none - it's been dry).

There was, however, water in my parent's pond, so we all crossed on our way back.  Belle (in the lead) and Honey Doll have been crossing the pond regularily this summer, but Shadow has only done it a few times and it is still new to him...you can tell by his expression (Shadow is far left).

But he went in sticking close to Honey Doll for some confidence.

And then he pawed the water.

I've had fun riding with my neighbors.  It's crazy that this is the first year ever (in my whole life), that I've had a pretty large group of people nearby to consistently ride with.  I grew up riding alone, rode alone most of the time out in Idaho, and even my first couple years back here.  So I've really appreciated the company, but I still like heading out alone, just a horse and maybe a dog or two!

I rode Catlow again today. This is her second ride this summer. Instead of going out alone, which makes her worried, I met up with the neighbors down by the pond. I wondered how Catlow would be meeting strange horses while out riding. Would it make her more nervous or would it make her feel more secure? When riding out with other members of her herd, she is totally calm.

Well, as long as Catlow has any other horses along, she feels more secure and isn't nervous and looking around constantly. It was funny when she met up with them...she showed only mild interest in them, then completely ignored them, even though she hadn't even sniffed noses with them! But just their presence was enough...she was pretty relaxed on our ride. Later on, we were resting and let the horses sniff noses. Catlow only sniffed noses with Honey Doll, then was over it. When Belle came over to sniff noses, Catlow looked away from her over the hill. She's not really all that concerned with her place in the hierarchy. Like I've said before, she is the #2 mare in the dominance hierarchy in my herd, but she is the lead mare. Everyone follows her. And many times today, the other horses followed her down new trails. We did some trotting, cantering, stopping and backing and working on circles. Catlow was great but her circles were more like eggs.

I really love riding Catlow because my Circle Y Flagstaff fits her perfectly. It also fits me perfectly, and Catlow is narrower than Cody and Chico so riding her is quite comfortable. Plus she is just a powerhouse. She might not look big, but she has so much heart and strength behind her.

Big trail ride

This morning, I met up with D riding her sorrel paint mare, Bailey. D lives about 3/4 of a mile from our house. She brought along her next door neighbor C riding Jack, a sorrel morgan with a flaxen mane and tail. We also met up with B and J riding their Tennessee walkers Belle and Honey Doll down by the pond on my parent's land. Belle was enamored with C's gelding, Jack.

Look at those beautiful doe-eyes she kept making at him! Jack paid no attention and the 5 of us took off for a trail ride.

We rode a different way than we usually do, taking some trails on another property where I had permission to ride. We had to ride the road for just a short ways to get there.

The owner had just mowed the trails so they were wonderful to ride on. The main trail goes along a ridge-top where we had some beautiful views.

I bet you didn't picture this when you think of Wisconsin, eh? Shhh! It's the best kept secret! WI is absolutely beautiful where we live, but I definitely am not in love with the southern part of the state (flat, lots of ag, and too many people).

On the way back, we went back to the pond on my parent's land to see if the horses wanted to get their feet wet.

Bailey decided not so much.

The pond was where we ended our ride and I headed home. On my way back, I ran into Wren and her two grandmas! My mom was watching Wren while I rode, and Todd's mom stopped by to visit!

It was a really nice ride, and now I think the people I rode with are going to try to get in touch with the landowner to get permission to ride there themselves.

Cantering

I had a great ride with my neighbor on Thursday. He wanted to work on faster gaits, especially cantering, with Belle. I rode Cody with her curb bit. We took a nice trail that a variety of terrains. The first part is a wide grassy trail through the shady woods lined with blackberries. Other parts are open freshy mowed hay fields. And still other parts are rougher trails up and down a big hill on the property where we rode. It is a pleasant area. It was also the perfect temperature. It has cooled off a bit here and I think the high was only around 80 and the humidity was not too bad. And on top of it all, we did a lot of trotting (his horse gaited, of course), and cantering. And it was just a great, fluid riding relationship...we just rode and whenever one wanted to go faster or slow down, we did...no asking and making sure it was okay...we just did it. Both of us like to train and make sure our horses respond to their rider, not the other horse's actions, so it was great practice for them. And both of our horses were well behaved on our ride. It really was so much fun. I wish I had taken pictures. I never take my camera along when I ride, but I should...I only have this one picture of her in the pasture from that day I rode her.


Another great thing was that I discovered that the new saddle I was trialing fits Cody pretty well. It is a Circle Y Omaha. I love how comfortable it is to ride in, so I was really hoping it would fit Cody and/or Chico. My husband and my dad both sat in it and it fits them well too, which was my main goal in getting another saddle.

I rode Chico in it last week, and he seemed reluctant to canter, even half-heartedly putting on the brakes and giving a little buck at one point. I'm not sure if it was the saddle or if it was just the day. Or maybe he was stiff from a previous ride. I do think that he is a little stiff from old injuries he's had and I think he needs some conditioning to evenly build muscle.

He sure does look nice in it though! It looks black here, but it is actually dark oil.


After that ride, I checked the saddle's sweat pattern and it has left a dry spot on the left side of his wither, but not the right side.



I also used a different saddle pad than usual, so I'm not ruling out that the saddle won't work for him yet. I think he needs a little conditioning, and a different saddle pad, then we'll see. But it does fit Cody! So now I have a saddle that will fit each fat horse, so I can have others ride my horses with me!

Trail ride success

Last Tuesday I rode Chico and met up with my neighbor, B, riding one of his Tennessee walker mares, named Belle. We went on a pretty long ride (about 2.5 hours) on the trails around our area. I have permission to ride on a couple different properties, so we were able to stay on trails most of the time. Our horses were pretty well behaved. Chico was pretty interested in the mare, but he wasn't aggressive and he listened to my cues whenever I asked him to back away or turn away from her. The mare was pretty nervous, but she settled down alright. My neighbor trains his own horses and he has 7, so they haven't been able to get them all out on a lot of trail rides. They've been out, just not with other horses, and very seldomly on the road. We did ride on the road for a bit and the mare was pretty leary of vehicles. I've been riding Chico most of the time when I go out because my dad expressed interest in riding him along with me. I wanted to make sure Chico was behaving himself alright before I let anyone else ride him. No one else has EVER ridden Chico besides me. I'm not sure why...I guess because he's always been very sensitive (responding really easily to cues) and sometimes he's got a mind of his own. He's also really quick, and he rarely spooks, but when he does, he can spin and take a few strides before you have a chance to react and pull him up. And I guess he is my baby, so I always rode him. But really, Chico is very steady. He listens well. Usually I just have to talk to him to get him to change gaits when we ride. He remembers his voice cues really well from when I started him. But he also knows what squeezing legs mean. And he's not a naughty horse. I also knew my dad really likes him. When I moved the horses to WI back in fall 2008, I went back to ID to finish work before I moved in the spring. My dad took care of my horses for me and he took Chico out a couple times to mess with him. He got him to climb on top of a round bale, and he rode him bareback with just a halter. He also led him inside our rustic cabin in the woods. And Chico did everything he asked. So, I've been riding him just to make sure he's ready for another rider.

Today, we went on our trail ride. It would have been nice for just my dad and I to ride together with just my horses first so that him and Chico could get along without distractions, but I had already mentioned to my neighbors, B and his wife, J, that I wanted to ride, so there were four of us! I was so nervous. I actually had butterflies in my stomach and my hands were shaky. I just was so worried that something might go wrong and I really did not want my dad to get hurt. He grew up riding, but hasn't ridden much at all in the last 20 years. My dad and I used to ride together when I was a kid, but it was so different then. This was my horse, that I trained...my horse that came from the wild. Did I mention that I trained him? Does it seem like maybe I lack confidence in the job I did? Well, only a little! When I ride him, I am perfectly comfortable. I was just so worried that my dad and him wouldn't speak the same language. My dad knows how Chico works, steers and all that...I just couldn't let go of my apprehension...for no reason really. Chico was wonderful. Look how good he stood for my dad while I was mounting up and getting ready to go. I rode bareback because I only have one saddle that fits both Chico and Cody.


I didn't take any pics on our ride because I didn't bring the camera along. I should have. We met B and J down at the pond on my dad's property. J rode Belle, and B rode Honey Doll. Cody was a little nervous about the new horses at first, but Chico could have cared less. Our ride was very nice. My dad kept scaring me by trotting Chico. He cantered him a couple times. Then he wanted to canter him through an open field....Ahhhhh! I was so nervous! I almost didn't want to watch, but they did fine! Honestly, I should have been more worried about the horse I was riding. I rode Cody and I used her old snaffle bit (I figured I felt more comfortable maneuvering her in it if she was funny about the new horses we rode with). She was so heavy with the snaffle! She's not usually that bad. I think she was a little worried about the other horses, even though she had relaxed quite a bit, that she was more concerned with where Chico was going than with my cues. She just lugged on the bit when I asked her to stop or slow down when Chico was in front of her and the new horses were behind her.

When we got back from our ride, we all rode through the pond and the horses thoroughly soaked themselves. Cody tried to lay down and roll with me on her, but I kept her up. She did manage to fill my boots with water though!

All in all, it really was a great ride, and I really gained a lot of confidence in my dad's ability to handle Chico. Even though I really didn't want him to go fast on him...I just wanted everyone to be safe! It's amazing how much more I worry now than I did when I was a kid, and it is all because of how much more experience I have now. I've seen wrecks with horses, I've been in a few, and I've learned to be very careful and always take things in steps. So my ideal first step would have been a successful ride of everyone just WALKING the whole way. But, we skipped a bunch of steps and went straight to the cantering and everything was fine! I should have more faith in my horse and my dad.

My dad had a good time, and he couldn't stop saying good things about Chico. He is familiar with mustangs - his aunt and uncle adopted and trained a few. But this is the first horse his daughter trained! I think maybe he's a little impressed with both Chico and I. I think I need to have a little more confidence in my abilities...or maybe the problem is just that I think too much when I'm at home and not around my horses. Since I've taken my break from riding while pregnant, I have a lot more apprehension...but only when I'm at home thinking about riding. I can't help thinking about all the things that could go wrong. Once I actually get out and get my horse out, all that goes away. I just need to quiet my mind about it at home.


Wren was glad to have her mama back. My mom watched her while my dad and I rode.


The horses were quite tired when we got back. It was warm out and they are out of shape. I decided to set Wren up in Chico's saddle and see what she thought.


This picture pretty much sums up what she thought. She was very very unsure about it. It was so high up, and mama was below her, and even though mama was holding onto her, she felt uncertain.


I tried to get her to slap the saddle horn or at least grab it. She did relax a little bit and look at it, but she was frozen up there, so I took her off.


But she readily reached out and touched their noses when she got back in my arms. I love this picture of Chico's one ear watching her.




I've thought a bit about Wren liking horses or not...and I really wouldn't be upset or offended if she has no interest in horses. At least I won't have to worry about her with them then! Probably she will like them though. She likes all our animals...dogs, cats, horses, cows, chickens, turkeys....