Sunny weekend with lots of trail riding

Finally! A sunny weekend! I rode on trail, Friday, Saturday and Sunday. It was awesome.




Friday was just a quick trail ride on Cruiser before sunset. I then rode Cole in the arena. I am so glad I am going to start feeding on Friday evenings next month. We are supposed to feed at 8:00, and the feeder fed at 6:45. It is just hay, so I let Cole eat while I cleaned our stalls. When I was done, I took him in the arena. Wow, was he crabby. He kept trying to go to the gate, didn’t pay as good attention as he usually does and just didn’t want to cooperate. This is the first time I have taken him away from his hay for an arena ride. Sure, a horse should learn to behave under such adverse conditions, but I would just prefer not to go through it all. I have been feeding on Mondays and Wednesdays, and it is great that I can control the feeding time. The little bit of money helps, too.



Saturday, my sister and I took Cruise and Ranger on a 5 mile ride with a lot of walking so we could talk. I then took Cole on the same ride alone with a lot of trotting and some cantering. He had trouble getting going into the canter, but when he did, he flew. I’m glad to say I didn’t have any trouble stopping, but he was very excited, after that. it took a bit to calm him down. I need to do more cantering with him.



Sunday, we took Cole and Ranger up to the show ring area, and there we did lots of trotting—more than ever. He was nearly perfect, too. We did the front loop trail, which we haven’t been doing with them, and they were both great. These trails are right by a stable that we used to keep Cruise, Ranger and Mingo. They have been silly up there, ever since. They get excited about going towards that barn, and pout when we leave it. Cole, of course, isn’t doing this—he is the opposite. This works to our advantage. I am trying to teach him to trot quietly towards home. Since Ranger is pouting and trotting slow, and since we have worked hard to teach Cole not to pass other horses without permission, he will trot slowly behind Ranger. I then took Cruise on a 4.5 mile ride. He did great, of course. He always does.

My goal with Cole is to get him as good as Cruiser—and it seems like we are going to make it! Plus, since I am older and wiser, I am teaching Cole things to make him better than Cruiser. (Such as not passing up other horses, not trying to race and better downward transitions.)



Long weekend coming up…