To the Show Ring

(Ellen's buddies, Stormy and Stubby are waiting for the big arrival.)

I decided to take Cole Train up to the show ring trails for the first time this year. Kevin was’nt able to ride with me, so I was on my own. I think I may have only taken him up there by myself just once. I usually go with Ellen. I remember he was very bad that day, but since then, I have been there so many times, I wasn’t worried at all.

The reason that I don’t usually go up there on weeknights is that it is a little longer ride, and except for last year, I always had another horse to ride when I got back. That will be changing, soon, so I just figured I should make the best out of the 1-horse situation while it lasted.

We got to cross the river in a spot that I haven’t crossed yet this year. I’m glad it is actually better than it was last year. The winter washed many of the rocks away, added a bunch of dirt in one spot and the remaining rocks are big enough to easily see and circumvent. I don’t care much for the next section of trail—it’s about half a mile that parallels the street—so I just trotted through. We crossed the street, went up the big hill and found the pine forest to be extremely lovely in the evening. It has been so long since I have ridden there in the evening, that I forgot how lovely it was.

The trails up there have the best footing in the whole park—perfect for a horse who needs shoes. Cole has worn his feet down a little too much, but he didn’t seem to mind these trails, at all. We had a lovely time trotting. I didn’t go the whole way—a few minutes from the end, there was a big deer blocking the trail, and since I was going to turn, anyway, I didn’t feel like messing with him.

We mostly walked towards home. When we trotted, he was very “forward” so I just did short stretches and practiced stopping. He was just a bit hyper since it was his firt ride up there. Ellen and I will start incorporating this ride into our weekends very soon. She gets a little nervous on the section by the street, so she hasn’t been in a big hurry to tackle it—but I think they are just about ready to try it.

I think I will be back there with Cole, next week…We can try trotting more…