Second Trail Ride

Still haven’t figured out how to post a comment on my own site - even my techno-geek son can’t figure out what’s up. Must have a corrupted code or something. And it’s too beautiful out to sit in and play with it. But thanks all for the comments!

And Mugs, my mare is very clear on what she wants/needs. Asks nicely, then shouts if I don't listen. A very clear horse communicator!

Which leads to thoughts about listening to your horse. I see so many people just force their horse to do something, and I do understand that they must listen to us, but we also need to be aware of what they are trying to tell us, too. Like Starlette last week - her back clearly was sore at the end of the ride. She was ouchy the rest of the week. The trainer I got her from would have spurred her on and not listened, until Starlette bucked to communicate. She’s already shown me that if her saddle doesn’t fit, she will resist, and then buck. That’s her way. I try to always be aware of any behavior out-of-the norm for her and then try to figure out why. I have found we have almost no incidents when I take the time to listen.

Some horses will continue on and do what we tell them no matter what. One woman was horrified to find large welts on her horse’s back after the four-hour ride…she paid decent money to get a custom-made and fitted saddle, and assumed it was fitting fine, only to find it was not. That dear horse just kept going. In hindsight, she said he didn’t to load that morning, which was not his normal way. Was that his way of saying something was wrong?

In today’s rush-rush-hurry-hurry lifestyle, we obviously need to slow down and listen. Particularly to our horses. Have any of you had an Aha moment of what your horse was trying to communicate to you?



Second Trail Ride

It was a beautiful morning. I let Starlette out for a few hours before we had to leave since the ride was not supposed to start until 11:30. About 9:30, got her, went to load. She resisted a little, but it only took half-an-hour this time! Yeah!

Arrived at the trailhead on time, and only one trailer was there from the group. Another group was there with mules (Oh, I love their bray!!! And their ears! Maybe I can get one for a husband-ride. Their personalities would match!), but the other 15 or so riders had not shown up. I connect with the other rider who was waiting, and he told me that the other part of the group ran into (cough, cough,) loading problems and would be an hour late.

So we waited. Starlette was good for a while, and then started digging. I swear she could be a dog! She had a nice pit made by the time the others showed up. Once the others started unloading, she really got excited. By the time everyone was ready, she was totally wet with sweat. Running in rivulets down her sides and fetlocks.

Did I mention she was also in heat? Super sensitive and hyped up. Took about four tries (I lost count) to get her to stand still long enough for me to mount. Then she danced around, did not know where to go…it ended up there were eighteen riders that day!

My biggest concern at that point was to keep her from kicking – she is learning that, no matter what, she is not allowed to side up to a horse and kick! She doesn’t try when they are behind her, only if they go to pass.

We finally hit the trails, and I ended up spending the first 20 minutes or so just unwinding Starlette. She finally relaxed into a nice, long, reaching walk. I think she was still a little stiff from the Sunday before, but so was I. It was going to be an easy ride as there were just too many horses and riders of different levels to do anything difficult.

We reached our first descent, the horse ahead got to the bottom, and we started down. We were about three-quarters of the way down, and suddenly there was all this noise behind us, and rocks and sand bouncing all around. I was about to turn and look when Starlette leaped ahead (luckily I held on!) and half-spun. The horse behind us must have not waited until we were all the way down, and then slipped and slid down the incline – and I don’t know how close they got, but from the sound they were right behind us. No wonder Starlette jumped! She did not want any horse sliding into her!

Settled her down again, and we continued on. She was so good, going where I asked. The trail went up and down, along swamps and valleys. All the horses seemed settled, content, and quiet, with only minor incidents.

We then came to a stream at the bottom of a gully. The trail went down, across what was probably a three-foot wide stream, then up again. As we approached, I noticed someone who had been up front on an Arab was off to the right side about 5 feet or so from the trail, but I was more focused on Starlette and her reactions to the stream, and she did not like crossing water in the past.

She was so good – took one look and leaped across it. However, at the same moment, the Arab decided to rear on the rider - and all I saw was feet and belly!

The Arab’s rider got him under control, but Starlette took personal insult to what he did, and kept trying to swing over to kick him. She was really pissed, and didn’t care what I was telling her. The Arab’s rider told me to let her kick him, but since I was teaching her trail manners, I was not even going to let her get close.

We passed after a small battle, but she knew that horse was behind us, and fought me the rest of the way back to the parking area. At first I couldn’t figure out what was going on, but then I realized what she was trying to tell me – that the horse who insulted her was behind us and she wanted to teach him some manners.

We finally got back to the lot, and she did calm down the last 10 minutes are so. She got on the trailer pretty well – I’ve been using a rope halter under her leather one because that has more bite when she pulls back, but tying her with the leather one, and I forgot to put it on, so she pulled back a few times until someone put their hand on her butt and kissed – she scooted right in with that!

Again, had a great time, and Starlette just gets better with the trailer. I want to ride alone, but I think I need a few more group rides under my belt before I try it!