Maximus

Maximus
Well, OK... 1/2 Norse. He's a Quarter Horse/Norwegian Fjord cross.

Friday, March 23, 2012

Happy Trails

It's been 5 months since my last...


TRAIL RIDE!! To the DAY. How funny is that? As you may be able to tell from the grin on my face, I had a blast.



My riding companion, gal-pal and boarder Jasmine, on Hubby's gelding, Bill (her boy is a 2 year-old shire gelding!).





Yup, that's her. Heading out onto the trail on a semi-hot TBX in a bareback pad. She rides as nicely as she sits.

We set the horses through all their paces, starting with some walking through sweat-inducing field sludge. Nothing to slick, but enough to work some muscles. That was followed with some sedate trotting in a cut-but-not-yet-tilled corn field, right up to the flapping flag monument and a pair of curious equine neighbors who escorted us down the length of their pasture. On we went to the bush trails that wind through a hydro right-of-way and some old bush trails. Then came the real challange for Max's brain muscles... ditch riding on a hwy! Well, not a real hwy. The speed limit is 70kms and the traffic was light at 3 pm. He did quite well, and so did I.

I'm always tensing up when I expect him to tense up. He never lets me down, either, escalating to more and more dramatics each time. Rather, when I breathe and tell him there's nothin' doin', he mellows out.

After that successful navigation... about 1/4 of a mile until our circuit took us back down a gravel road, we meandered with peaceful trotting down the side of the gravel, back to the corn field. This is the site of our only canter work. Was a good stretch and at that speed, they had to work through some soft ground. Max was full of beans during this one, not wanting to do it in the first place and then bucking like a tool when we went through a damp swell. I will tell you right here, had I not been in the Hubby's western saddle, I would have EATEN DIRT. As it was, I had to make a decision to stay on and once I did, employ leg muscles in my one retained stirrup that will remind me of our adventure for days to come, I'm sure. I growled at Max, corrected his veer to the left at my right-side-heavy seat position, and he did come back to me. Thank goodness for the medium-shank, medium-port bit and that bulky western saddle! May not have been as comfortable as my sleek dressage no-name beater, but I was saved!

We rounded up our adventure with a quad encounter, thankfully by a polite man and a good 200 feet of distance into a soupy field.





Half of Max's sweat is from his brain. He was dripping on the mile-long cool-down walk and both boys immediately took advantage of our offered sandy reward as soon as we pulled the saddles off.






On a side note, I noticed that the saddle I used did pinch his withers... 3 inch matching DRY spots, either side. I will have to pay particular attention to fit when I order my new saddle. *gasp!* It's outta the bag. I'm determined, especially after today's ride, to get one sooner rather than later. Hubby's saddle doesn't fit me one bit and clearly doesn't do my horse any favours.


Check out the Cascade Wade Model on this site: http://www.trailridingsaddles.com