First Trail Ride

Today Linus and Allie had their first trail ride. Linus has been on trails on the halter and while being ground driven. He LOVES trails, fields and bushes. I think being on the road is a bit boring for him. He is usually content to plod along behind Allie. Today, he was not impressed being behind her when we turned them onto the trail. He kicked it up a gear and I had to for the first time, hold him back! I don't yet want to let him go! He did sneak in a few beats of trot here and there but I was quick to bring him back. It was nice to see him so fresh, even nicer though that he still respected me. That's not to say he was perfect. He did buck once after I got back on after tightening his girth. But, I hadn't paid attention to where Allie went and she had gone around a little grove that was near the back corner of the field so he couldn't see her. I stayed on and soon had his attention and we rejoined Dad and Allie.

As it would turn out, Dad should have taken my lead and tightened his girth at the same time! I'll explain why in a bit.

Here we are headed back up the trail. Linus was ok now with not being the leader. As you can see his mane is getting long enough (for anyone new this year I clipped it all off last year!) now that his "combover" is coming back. It would show even more but I have to keep his bridle path trimmed because it drives him up the wall having hair folded or pulled under his halter or hackamore.

Of course, Essa joined us today! Good thing these aren't our bales of hay. While the hay isn't too bad (it got a bit of rain) the baler sure didn't pack or tie them tight! Linus loosened a couple because he loves to try to knock them over. I stopped that though because the farmer is going to have enough trouble loading them without them falling apart (my boss' husband!)

Here is Linus dried off and chilling out after our ride. I soaked him good with hose, which he loves. That's nice because last year he hated it! This year he even drinks straight from it!

Now back to the girth issue. Once we came up the driveway from our ride Dad decided to go into the hayfield that borders the pasture. Allie had never been down here before. At one point she startled at what we later discovered to be a small branch but positioned exactly like a snake about to strike. When she startled, her needed to be tightened saddle slipped which startled her even more. Dad almost had it righted enough to calm her when she went sideways and so did the saddle. Needless to say Dad not to gracefully came off. Allie, now panicked by the more sliding saddle, took off. I quickly got off Linus before we had an accident. Allie's saddle slipped right under her and she really took off. I was proud of Linus who even with all the commotion of Allie taking off, still listened to me. He did get wound up, understandably I think, but he still knew enough to listen to me. At one point I had to let him go or else Allie would have ran right over me, but even then he didn't take off. He actually went to her and Dad was able to grab the reins and calm the poor, freaked out Allie. He soon got her saddle off. Linus walked back over to me (man I love this horse!) and I too removed his saddle. In a way, he saved the day by retrieving Allie and also by remaining calm in a situation where many horses would have bolted with their fleeing pasture mate.

We cooled them down, sponged Allie, hosed Linus and gave them a rest. Then we put the saddle back on Allie and Dad got back on just to let her know everything was still ok. She was good. We took the saddle off then walked both horses to the scene of the incident and that's when we found the horse eating branch. Dad felt pretty bad because the whole thing could have been avoided and I also should have asked him how her girth was when I checked that of Linus. We were very lucky that nobody was hurt or too shaken up by it.

I shared a story with Dad that I had been told about checking and/or tightening the girth 3 times before mounting and then again about 10 minutes into the ride. He admitted to knowing better but said we were nearly done and that was the last thing he expected. Anyway, hard lesson learned but we are thankful it went the way it did and everyone is none the worse for wear.

Dad really wishes he had the chance to start Allie the way I did with Linus. She has a good heart and is a beautiful mover but has been made so nervous by her past treatment. She has come on leaps and bounds since coming to us in April. I'm glad she is ok but I am so happy that in a really stressful situation, Linus pulled through for me.

So, unfortunately we didn't yet get to try our new wheels but hopefully this week! I'm really looking forward to driving again.

Be safe everyone!!

Donna & Linus

Lunenburg , ON Canada