BTW- the title has nothing to do with the post. ;P
I promised Haley (14) and Jenna (9) (owners of Areem and Romeo) that I would go on a trail ride with them today. I got to the barn around 1pm, and they had already started to saddle up. The last time I rode with Haley, she had a "saddle malfunction" and we both came off. Sooo, since their all still very novice (parents included) I wanted to make sure all of their tack was on correctly. Romeo was already saddled, so I went in the stall to check it out. Paul, who is the girls' step dad, had it cinched waaaaay wrong. He had the latigo ran under the saddle, through the right and left d-rings. That kind of blew my mind. Lol. I un-did it, and showed them all the correct way to do it. Then I went in to Arty's stall and showed them again on his saddle. The latigo was way too short, so I let them use mine off of my western saddle. I also had to fix both of their breast collars, and switch out damn near every strap, string, and snap on those damn saddles! Lol. It took a good 30-45 minutes to get everyone situated, but now they know how to tack up correctly and safely.
After that whole ordeal (yes, ordeal! lol) Sandy (BO), Haley, Jenna, and I headed for the pine woods. When we got by the "monsters", I spotted another rider on the road. She cantered up to us and asked if she could tag along. Jenna got nervous about the new horse, and convinced herself that Romeo was acting out (which he wasn't). We all continued towards the pine woods when Jenna jumped off Romeo and said that she wanted to go back to the barn. I told her that she should get back on him and finish the ride with us. She insisted on going back, so I volunteered to take her and told everyone else that I would catch up. Once Jenna and I got back to the back to the barn, we let Paul know what happen, then I turned around to catch up with the group.
We trotted and cantered up the driveway, through the first part of the woods, and slowed down to a walk once I found the group. Tucker, who is Sandy's old barrel mare, was jigging like crazy and was a hot little tamale! I think the fact that Bones left, then came back kind of messed with her. Since Tucker was all hyped up, the rest of the horses got a little "spunky" as well. Haley and I were riding a bit behind Sandy and the new girl (I get remember her name.. oops!). Once we got to the driveway, Sandy and the new girl started to canter. Areem and Bones refused to be left behind and both took off rather quickly. I got Bones under control in a matter of seconds.. but, Areem wouldn't stop for Haley. Eventually when he realized everyone was behind him, she got him to slow down.. but it was still kind of scary. She didn't really seemed phased by it, so I guess all is well.
When we got back to the barn, another boarder had barrels set up, so the new girl wanted to show us her horse running the barrels. Then Sandy took a turn, then Haley, and of course I had to! ( "Running" isn't a fair term. The arena is so small that anything faster than a slow canter is difficult). Arty and Bones have never run barrels so they were a bit confused at first. Lol. The new girl left, and we all continued to take turns on the barrels. Jenna had already put Romeo back in the field, so I let her hop on Bones. Bones hasn't had very many different people ride him, so I'm always nervous when he has a new rider.. especially a 9 year old! But, truth be told, he has be SUCH a wonderful boy lately that I had quite a bit of confidence that he would take care of her. I asked her to go grab her helmet, then lifted her into the saddle. I was using Steve's western saddle, and the stirrups wouldn't go short enough for her so I told her to make sure she uses her thigh muscles, and don't go faster than a walk. He did just fabulous for her, did everything she ask, didn't do anything wrong. She walked the barrel pattern with him, and even trotted a bit from the last barrel. It was so cute.. I wish I had my camera on me! Arabian WIN!
Everyone had somewhere to be, and all left one by one. I, of course, was the last on there and still wanted to ride. I decided to switch saddles and go on the trail in my english saddle. We headed up the big hill, and into the woods. We trotted a good bit of the main trail. Then came to a 5-6 acre field, which I refer to as the "gallop field". When you come out of the woods off the trail onto the GF, I like to turn left and start trotting. There's a right turn, I typically start to canter here (or continue trotting, if the horse is acting hot). Another right turn takes us to a straight away, on a nice incline that is perfect for a nice fast canter or gallop. Bones and I followed the course of action stated above, and had a nice gallop up the incline. To my excitement, I stayed in a decent two-point the whole way up. I trotted him on the top of the hill to cool him down, then headed onto a different trail. We trotted most of this trail, with a little bit of cantering up a couple of hills. We lost the trail for a couple of minutes, did a little "off roading", found the trail again, and came back out the GF. We walked down one side of the GF, trotted/cantered the flat side, came to the incline and cantered/galloped it again. We trotted on top of the hill to cool down, like before, and walked down one side of it again, then went into a different trail yet again. This trail has a pond next to it that the horses sometimes don't know what to think of. Today Bones didn't pay it any mind, though. There was a small ditch with water that he acted pretty unsure of, and acted like he was going to jump it. After a minute or so I convinced him to walk through it instead of jumping over it. We then headed home, walking most of the way. We were at the last big hill, when I spotted two does. They had already crossed our path, but I was on alert for lingering deer. Sure enough, when we were half way up the hill, a buck pops out of the woods right in front of us, and scares the shit out of Bones. He tried to run off to the right, but I (thankfully) stayed on and in control, and kept him from bolting. I tried to act like nothing happen, and continued up the hill. All was good and well the rest of the ride. We got back to the barn, cooled off in the arena, un-tacked, tossed Bones in the stall, and got Kazi. I fed Kazi, and let Bones hang out in the stall for a bit. I opted to give Bones some bute, because we rode for nearly 3 hours. They both ate, got turned out, and I took some pictures of all of the dirty ponies!
Nice disgusting gash out of his neck, courtesy of KAZI!
I promised Haley (14) and Jenna (9) (owners of Areem and Romeo) that I would go on a trail ride with them today. I got to the barn around 1pm, and they had already started to saddle up. The last time I rode with Haley, she had a "saddle malfunction" and we both came off. Sooo, since their all still very novice (parents included) I wanted to make sure all of their tack was on correctly. Romeo was already saddled, so I went in the stall to check it out. Paul, who is the girls' step dad, had it cinched waaaaay wrong. He had the latigo ran under the saddle, through the right and left d-rings. That kind of blew my mind. Lol. I un-did it, and showed them all the correct way to do it. Then I went in to Arty's stall and showed them again on his saddle. The latigo was way too short, so I let them use mine off of my western saddle. I also had to fix both of their breast collars, and switch out damn near every strap, string, and snap on those damn saddles! Lol. It took a good 30-45 minutes to get everyone situated, but now they know how to tack up correctly and safely.
After that whole ordeal (yes, ordeal! lol) Sandy (BO), Haley, Jenna, and I headed for the pine woods. When we got by the "monsters", I spotted another rider on the road. She cantered up to us and asked if she could tag along. Jenna got nervous about the new horse, and convinced herself that Romeo was acting out (which he wasn't). We all continued towards the pine woods when Jenna jumped off Romeo and said that she wanted to go back to the barn. I told her that she should get back on him and finish the ride with us. She insisted on going back, so I volunteered to take her and told everyone else that I would catch up. Once Jenna and I got back to the back to the barn, we let Paul know what happen, then I turned around to catch up with the group.
We trotted and cantered up the driveway, through the first part of the woods, and slowed down to a walk once I found the group. Tucker, who is Sandy's old barrel mare, was jigging like crazy and was a hot little tamale! I think the fact that Bones left, then came back kind of messed with her. Since Tucker was all hyped up, the rest of the horses got a little "spunky" as well. Haley and I were riding a bit behind Sandy and the new girl (I get remember her name.. oops!). Once we got to the driveway, Sandy and the new girl started to canter. Areem and Bones refused to be left behind and both took off rather quickly. I got Bones under control in a matter of seconds.. but, Areem wouldn't stop for Haley. Eventually when he realized everyone was behind him, she got him to slow down.. but it was still kind of scary. She didn't really seemed phased by it, so I guess all is well.
When we got back to the barn, another boarder had barrels set up, so the new girl wanted to show us her horse running the barrels. Then Sandy took a turn, then Haley, and of course I had to! ( "Running" isn't a fair term. The arena is so small that anything faster than a slow canter is difficult). Arty and Bones have never run barrels so they were a bit confused at first. Lol. The new girl left, and we all continued to take turns on the barrels. Jenna had already put Romeo back in the field, so I let her hop on Bones. Bones hasn't had very many different people ride him, so I'm always nervous when he has a new rider.. especially a 9 year old! But, truth be told, he has be SUCH a wonderful boy lately that I had quite a bit of confidence that he would take care of her. I asked her to go grab her helmet, then lifted her into the saddle. I was using Steve's western saddle, and the stirrups wouldn't go short enough for her so I told her to make sure she uses her thigh muscles, and don't go faster than a walk. He did just fabulous for her, did everything she ask, didn't do anything wrong. She walked the barrel pattern with him, and even trotted a bit from the last barrel. It was so cute.. I wish I had my camera on me! Arabian WIN!
Everyone had somewhere to be, and all left one by one. I, of course, was the last on there and still wanted to ride. I decided to switch saddles and go on the trail in my english saddle. We headed up the big hill, and into the woods. We trotted a good bit of the main trail. Then came to a 5-6 acre field, which I refer to as the "gallop field". When you come out of the woods off the trail onto the GF, I like to turn left and start trotting. There's a right turn, I typically start to canter here (or continue trotting, if the horse is acting hot). Another right turn takes us to a straight away, on a nice incline that is perfect for a nice fast canter or gallop. Bones and I followed the course of action stated above, and had a nice gallop up the incline. To my excitement, I stayed in a decent two-point the whole way up. I trotted him on the top of the hill to cool him down, then headed onto a different trail. We trotted most of this trail, with a little bit of cantering up a couple of hills. We lost the trail for a couple of minutes, did a little "off roading", found the trail again, and came back out the GF. We walked down one side of the GF, trotted/cantered the flat side, came to the incline and cantered/galloped it again. We trotted on top of the hill to cool down, like before, and walked down one side of it again, then went into a different trail yet again. This trail has a pond next to it that the horses sometimes don't know what to think of. Today Bones didn't pay it any mind, though. There was a small ditch with water that he acted pretty unsure of, and acted like he was going to jump it. After a minute or so I convinced him to walk through it instead of jumping over it. We then headed home, walking most of the way. We were at the last big hill, when I spotted two does. They had already crossed our path, but I was on alert for lingering deer. Sure enough, when we were half way up the hill, a buck pops out of the woods right in front of us, and scares the shit out of Bones. He tried to run off to the right, but I (thankfully) stayed on and in control, and kept him from bolting. I tried to act like nothing happen, and continued up the hill. All was good and well the rest of the ride. We got back to the barn, cooled off in the arena, un-tacked, tossed Bones in the stall, and got Kazi. I fed Kazi, and let Bones hang out in the stall for a bit. I opted to give Bones some bute, because we rode for nearly 3 hours. They both ate, got turned out, and I took some pictures of all of the dirty ponies!
Nice disgusting gash out of his neck, courtesy of KAZI!
Bahaha! He looks sooo doppy!
DIRTY MAN!
I always double check everyone's tack, no matter how experienced they are.
ReplyDeleteSounds like the whole experience was a handful.