Our trail to happiness !

Our trail to happiness !

Tuesday, October 29, 2013

Oct 26, our group trail ride out from home!

I was super super nervous in the morning and couldn't eat! I was worried people weren't going to like our trails, or maybe slip in the mud at the bottom of the mowed trail , or get lost because we would get split up and the marking not be great.. But people started arriving early so I had no time to fret. Chris went up the access road and got the trailers parking and got a water barrel filled and taken up.  I got me some water containers filled with coolers for my ride to keep me warm ;) and went out to brush the horses..

It wasn't long and Amanda and B got here and Allie arrived (the lady riding Coby) We talked some and then got tacked up. We mounted close to 12 and head up to the trailers. Everyone was chilled and ready to go. (it's cold up on the hill!)


Kizz & Coby checking out the trailers and horses!

Kizz & Coby (picture taken by Carol Egers)

Allie on Coby, Myself on Kizz & Amanda on Bronwyn




We waited a little bit but Kaaren and Robyn arrived not long after.. Then we did a pre-ride and head out!

It wasn't long and we were the last 3 and only ones together.. hahaha Coby is so super slow.. he just walked quietly along.. A few spots we jogged and loped a few spots along the trail.. and had a great time. It wasn't long and I had a couple coolers done, so had to hop off and have a break ;)

Myself , Amanda & Bronwyn and Allie on Coby



We trotted some more and even at one point Amanda and B trotted on ahead of Kizz and I and I held him back and he was fine!

At one point along the short narrow trail between the Clone road (logging road) and the pave before Kaaren's (cross road) Amanda and B got a bit ahead of Kizz and I and he wanted to run and catch up (even though Coby was behind us) and he pitched a fit! He bucked and kicked but I yelled and turned him around and then he was ok. We continued on. but he did it 2x though! Little bugger!

When we did arrive at the part of the trails where we can see Kaaren's.. everyone was having their halfway break and waiting.. we didn't go in, so we continued on.. It was only a few minutes and the group caught up and flew by us again..  but later on we noticed we had a few people missing! Amanda went back while Allie & I waited on trail.. She finally found them as they were on their way back (they noticed they'd went the wrong way) our ribbons had turned from orange to yellow (and we forgot to point that out.. oops!)

When the group caught up to Allie and I , a few stopped and chatted. Someone was saying how Beautiful Kizz is :)  then the rest flew on by us.. haha We lost sight of them pretty soon.

Then in a bit, Amanda and B (along with a young girl on a paint horse) caught up. We all rode nicely along the RR together (at this point my cell died , so no more pics from me )

Later on along the trail someone mentioned the young girl on the paint horse was only 14! I was so surprised! I asked her how old her horse was and she said 4! and this was their FIRST TRAIL ride!!! I was soooo surprised!! they were like old pros!!! we all stuck a little closer to her after that! He refused a ditch crossing a little bit but as soon as Amanda and B crossed I said PUSH him on!! and he went right through! and then at the ditch to the camp road at Tim Blaneys, he crossed that no problem as well! What a SWEET little  horse! and lovely rider! Was so nice to have met them :)

We trotted a bit  up through the fields at Tims and I even got a video of Coby's "gallop" for Allie (slow slow lope lol)

We took a short cut and head down the pave and up the ant hill road , to get back around the same time (if not still way after) a lot of the other riders. No traffic came and we all did fine .


here's a picture of Kizz and I trotting home through the field Kaaren got :) Kizz is looking pretty proud of himself I think! 




We got back and Chris was BBQing! yum! All in all it was a GREAT ride!!! Kizz was good, Everyone said they loved the trails and had a great time!! 
We had 14 riders! Great turn out! So happy!! Now I'm super looking forward to our ride in June here!! I'm going to try very hard to have us ready for the 50 mile!!! It's my goal for 2014 to have us ready and Kizz and I ride our own ride for the first time!! (not ride with anyone)

Now I just have to get through my next ride out alone! 

The last 2 rides in the last 2 weeks I have rode out WITH a horse, I'm sure Kizz will give me a hard time the next few rides, so we are going to get them over with soon! I'm going out Thursday I hope!! meeting Kaaren on trail too! Wish me luck!!

Monday, October 21, 2013

Oct 19th riding out with Amanda!



      So it's calling for heavy rains Sunday, So we cancel the ride until Next Saturday! Amanda and I decide to go out on Sat since it's so nice out and she won't be able to do Sat ride here plus the group trail ride we plan to do Sunday next weekend. So she comes Saturday and we ride out. I tack up almost all before she arrives. I decide we might as well make the best of it and I get Chris to get us 4 coolers haha ! (I pour them into water bottles and hand her one when she tacks up )


We finish up and mount. We head down the driveway with Kizz looking at her mare the whole way.. haha he's in LOVE! A beautiful black mare! (we hadn't ever rode alone with a new horse before that he'd never met ! ) So this will be interesting to see how he does! I wonder how he'll react with her behind us.. will be be snaky and just keep looking?

We get out on the access road and walk along. Both horses are super good and quiet ! the fields are the same, Kizz gets strange at the rock wall crossing! I think the trail marking ribbon is wierding him out! haha!

But we go through first and she follows , we head to the trails and the horses walk along side by side well. We go single file through the muddy spots and Kizz is really good! he's not looking behind constantly! We go up to the ant hill road and then up to the camp with a view , cross over to the fields behind Merle Wallace's and go down and cross the road there straight across to the camp road. (Her horse doesn't have much road riding experience yet) We do fine! We walk and chat down through those fields and down through the camp road there are some new logging piles which Kizz looks at like it's going to eat him.. haha but he survives. Walking along makes for much  more stuff to SEE .. haha

We get to the ditch and Amanda says, she 's never crossed a ditch like this before with Bronwyn. The walk across it like it's nothing though! yay! then we go along up the RR, We get quite a ways and decide we are doing fine (her horse is fairly out of shape) but we are just walking most of it, and have time, so we do the WHOLE trail ride that was marked out for the group ride. We trot some on the RR (some with her ahead and some with me ahead ) and they both do great! Kizz encounters some new things on trail (a culvert stuck out that they have to REALLY step over and a new spot of running water they have to cross) and they both do awesome!!  We go through the really cute little trail that gets you to the logging road and I grab some pics!






The horses are doing great and we are having a great old time! I can't BELIEVE that after 6? days of no RIDING , Kizz isn't hyper trying to go ahead or Jigging the whole way, he walks along nicely!! even when we trot it's a quiet drag your feet kinda trot! Amazing after the race brain horse I had last ride!! HAHA!!

I can't explain enough how wonderful he was!! I NEVER imagined I would have SUCH a QUIET RELAXING ride on Kizz.. EVER! well  it was wonderful! A great experience!!

We talked on the logging road and I told her what I had experienced in the ACTRA club so far. How it works at the rides and such. She was asking me how I would normally do this trail , and I said probably the few times we had Trotted, would be the few times we would have WALKED. She asked if I would have cantered or galloped any, and I said probably a few times along the rail way if Kizz wanted. Also on a few little hills on the logging road I would have. I feel comfortable picking a spot to Canter and deciding where to end before I even pick it up.

When we came to a little knoll she said, if you wanted to canter we could try it.. So we trotted on ahead (I wasn't sure if he WOULD pick it up, he was so laid back and not wanting to leave his new Girlfriend!! haha)

But as soon as he heard Amanda and B trotting up quickly on us in behind he picked up his canter and we looked back and they were cantering too.  I looked back and Amanda had the biggest smile! I think she was outright laughing actually! We cantered the whole way to the top and then pulled back, Kizz was great , no race brain at ALL. FUN FUN!

We continued along walking and chatting , we laughed it up a lot. Fun times! (coolers were yummy too!)

We cantered up a hill once more and it went great we had a blast.. then continued on walking the rest of the way. When we got to the lower part of the mowed trail that is all muddy and sloped, we walked slowly and of course I lost a back boot! I got down and got it and tied it to my saddle. I got him next to a stump and remounted and that's when Amanda and I both pointed out I should have removed the other one.. haha

I got about halfway through the mud hole when She said I 'd lost the other.. I said , oh well, I'm coming back for it Tomorrow.. So we head on home. We walked on home. Through the rock wall Kizz was fine, we came out the other side and waiting for Amanda and B. When they came through , we continued on, Kizz spooked (I think at the ribbons on the trees there again lol) but then we continued on. The access road  he whinnied a quiet little half whinny but I told him No, and he didn't again. He was happy that he had a buddy anyway I think :)

We got home and my wonderful hubby was throwing on some burgers on the BBQ for us! YUM!

It was close to dark but hubby grabbed a few pics of us :)





We un-tacked.. Kizz wasn't even WARM! that was a first! lol not a wet spot under his saddle any. My boy is in good shape me thinks ;)

She loaded the beautiful B up and had a burger then left. What a great time we had!

thanks for coming Amanda, it was a great experience for Kizz .. and me too!! ((HUGS))









No riding all week :( but we get new boots and the scales are going down too!

It is getting dark so early it's hard to get out any during the week! I don't get out any during the week on either horse! :( but I do get Kizz's new back boots in the mail! We clean up and try them on. He doesn't mind them at all. So proud of him! (new things used to really blow his mind!)


I'm also down another 5 lbs!! I'm so happy!! All this happiness and riding has really been good for me! I start back to boot camp Monday too, so I can't wait to see how much better I can do! I'm down to 150lbs, from 178lbs! I really would like to get to 130lbs :) for my height of 5'1 that isn't asking much I don't think!





here's my handsome dude in his new back boots :) I trot him around the driveway and they seem to stay on well! But I know they will probably pull off in the mud. I need to get gators to add to them asap!







Oct 13, Ride with 2 horses.. RACE BRAIN :(



   So , its been a while since we've went out with 2 horses... but he's always been fine when Robyn and Kaaren rode Magic & Odin with Kizz , so I'm not concerned at all.. Well I have plans at 3pm so when they call to meet, I decide I'll hurry and meet them along the RR and then head home after riding with them along the RR a bit. So Kizz and I leave and go right straight down the 605 to the camp road and go down to the RR , We trot up along the RR and meet them around where the hydro line crosses the RR. He is hyper to see them. We pull in behind but he starts acting funny so I put him in between Magic & Odin, he's much better.. they decide to come up through my way so that works for me.. I can head home after we get to my turn off.  We go through the camp road and into the fields and they trot, well Kizz picks up a trot but wants to race and tries to canter, well I pull him back and he bucks and kicks up a fuss! I yell and pull him back. Kaaren slows and after we talk a bit, she tells Evan to go off again .. So Kizz and I can try again. Magic leaves Odin and I trotting (we trot too) and he just wants to race ahead. This happens a few times, then he finally trots beside odin being semi-ok. We get to the top of the fields to the 605 . We cross the road and let them eat grass there while we chat about how she dealt with Magic with race brain all his life. It gives me hope that at least I will survive it!! We continue on through the trails. We stop and talk to the property owner at the camp on the top of the hill with the great view. I grab some pics of the trail buddies :)





All 3 pretty chestnuts :)



 He isn't too bad other than I have to hold him back most of the ride. When we get down to the mowed trail they stop and I continue on home. He leaves them very well ! We trot down the mowed trail and walk across the fields.. He stops to eat in one of the fields and I'm SO impressed with this! I get off and let him munch a while. :) He does keep looking back looking for his buddies though but doesn't call for them or anything. What a GOOD boy!
looking back for his buddies while he munches




I loose track of time and get a call that Robyn is at my house waiting for me! So I mount up and we trot on home. He only whinnies ONCE in the access road right beside home. He is really good. HE isn't hot at all  so I un-tack and leave. I have a LOT to think about!! What will I do? How will I handle his RACE brain??? Is he going to be horrible on our group trail ride the next weekend ?? There will be 12-15 horses !!!




Oct 11, Fri- perfect ride alone! down the RR.. hyper hyper boy!







        Friday evening I decide to tack up and ride out alone... I hadn't been on Kizz since our Sunday ride last and he's probably going to be pretty hyper. I tack up and as soon as Chris gets home I hop on and head out. I tell him I am going to the logging road to trot some. I leave all the horses out and hope for the best. We leave and all horses are GREAT! No yelling and nothing. We don't go up the access road , rather I go down the pave farther and head up into the fields across from the diary farm and head through those to our mowed trail. For leaving and going out a completely new trail for Kizz, he is AWESOME! We trot the whole way. Once we come to the mowed trail we walk some where it's muddy. He is pretty hyper I can tell from the way he's hitting the ground with his feet!

We get to the hilly wet part of the mowed trail and I can tell something is down there.. Kizz keeps acting strange and doesn't want to go, I decide I best turn.. After I turn I can tell I was right, Something WAS down there because the whole way back out Kizz is snakey, turning and looking behind us. I know it's way too early to head back home -we only  just got out! and Kizz is very hyper still. So I call my hubby to tell him about our course change and head down towards the pave. We will go down to the RR. The whole way Kizz is perfect. He has lots of energy but he's being very good. We get down to the RR and trot along it. I am a bit nervous as it's late in the evening and it gets dark so quick! So I don't know how far we will go.. I decide to go until he calms and settles some. We trot and even canter some along the RR. We make it to the pave in MILLVILLE!!! wow! I'm so happy I get a pic!






He bites some grass by the road and then we turn and head back. We trot and canter some. He is A1, Still hyper though! We turn off at our ditch and head up the Camp road . Halfway up it I hear the tractor! When we get to the tractor and the property owner he turns it off and we chat some. Kizz is pretty good! He wants to GO but he stands fairly well. When we do head off we trot up the Camp road and I let him canter up a hill a  bit. He lets out a couple little bucks so I pull him back to trotting.

We trot the rest of the way home! He is Still hyper coming home and we did 9? almost 10 Miles!? ALONE





What a guy. I untack and lead him around letting him eat grass (after his supper) and dry him out a bit before putting him away. What a GREAT ride, I'm SO SO proud of us!!!!!! He was great!!! AH! love this!!!!!!!




Wednesday, October 9, 2013

Oct 6th - Is this the end of our trail?? or the beginning?

I feel like this is the end! maybe not the end of our journey as we have a long life of trail riding ahead of us Kizz and I, but I feel like this is the end of our "trail to happiness!" I feel we've made it!!!

The last few rides have made me (and I think him! seeing as how we are going alone and he is happy, forward moving and not giving me a hard time to leave!) feel like we are THERE.. the happy spot!! I'm not as reluctant to go out and tack up, I'm nowhere near half as nervous.. I'm so proud of what we have accomplished in just a few months really!!   We have so many years of fun ahead of us! Guess this is really the Beginning! 

let me tell you about this ride...

I am meeting Kaaren on trail.. She's leaving in about 20-30 minutes she says, so I go tack up and head out, I know since I am taking the logging road to meet her, I have about an hour ride before I get to her turn off, so I have lots of time! So we head out. Kizz is slower and relaxed today.. FIRST TIME EVER when we have been alone! We take the same trail as Friday evening down onto the logging road. We trot some and walk most of it, he's very laid back! We have our bear bell on its jingling away merrily.. I'm SO SO happy I can't tell you enough !  We go almost to Kaaren's trail when we meet up with her and Odin. Kizz's ears perk up and he's excited to see them! When we continue on our way I see Kizz DOES have energy.. Energy to keep up (and pass ) Odin.. he has most definitely caught the BUG of competitive riding haha !

We go out of the logging road and down the 605 and back onto some trails that lead to the RR. We walk most of that, its beautiful!! We even stop and grab some apples from a tree and have a munch with the horses on them.. yum!

I am supposed to be home in like 30 minutes so we pick it up a notch! We trot and canter down the RR. Kizz keeps wanting to go in front but I keep him back. At one point later down the trail we are cantering in front and Odin's head and neck appear at our side in his vision and he TAKES off like a "bat outta hell" lol
I pull him back after a bit (after Odin has been slowed down) and he slows down.. what a bugger! Kaaren looks at me and says... bet ya didn't know he had another gear did ya!? hahah I said, yeah I've seen it in the field I just wasn't expecting to RIDE it! haha!! she and I decide at the Ditch on the RR to separate.. I continue on and once I get to my ditch to get off the RR and onto the camp road I see Odin and Kaaren cantering up to us! I guess Odin hadn't wanted to leave us! haha! so she and I go along up the camp road together.. We decide to split up in the big fields (eeeeek!!) but I don't want to do it on the pave in case kizz acts up.. I just ask him to trot all the way up to the 605 (he slows and asks to stop but he never stops on me or whinnies) I'm SO SO SO proud!!! I can't believe it really!!

We trot on home along the pave! I cool him out and run my tack in and then get ready to leave!
I forget to turn off my GPS when we leave so it's not accurate, but I love the loop we did, and how it shows RED where we cantered and Green where we walked and yellow would be trotting :) we probably did around 11 miles.




look at the ears up on trail! this is the logging road when we were all alone at first


When I get home we let our new boarder "Kit" out for the first time (she came that morning) and Kizz is super excited to meet her! :) (She is actually out of our old mare Katra that lived with Kizz and Coby from when Kizz & she were yearlings until 4)





Oct 4th- our first REAL training ride out all alone!! SO SO proud!

so since our CTR & JP I give Kizz a few days off! It's well deserved! I take Coby out for a little trail ride to start getting him into shape for a couple group trail rides I have coming up he will be going on. I take him out Wednesday Oct 2 for a little ride, its beautiful out and I enjoy crunching through the leaves! We only do a few miles at a good pace, and he's pretty tired ! So different trying to keep him moving where with Kizz I'm always working to slow him down! haha! Kizz has whinnied the whole time we were gone! lol
I can actually take a selfie when riding Coby haha

I love my new hot pink safety vest..perfect for hunting season and road riding!



Then Friday I saddle Kizz up, and take him out on our first REAL ride all alone! I had been putting Coby in the barn so he doesn't yell when we leave and Kizz doesn't yell and give me a hard time.. but I leave Coby out, (as I need to start doing that!) and no one says a WORD! yahooo!! We ride through the fields at a trot and then into our trail, we trot some of it where we can then down the long hill to the logging road, We go a ways around the logging road trotting and a little lope then head home , I AM SUPER super proud of us!!! Our first trip out all alone and we did GREAT! almost 7 miles. He had lots of energy it seemed too and was happy to go! RIDES like these make me feel that we surely can do this! How could I ever have doubted it!!?! YES!
almost to the logging road! 



Saturday I take Coby out again for another little Jaunt, as I am riding Kizz with Kaaren & Odin Sunday! weather is beautiful too! Coby and I do almost the same loop as Thursday only a little farther this time.. 3 miles I think.. We have a great time. I think he enjoys getting out too :)




Tuesday, October 1, 2013

Sept 28th, OUR first CTR!!! Amazing!!!!




"Not Camp Cheputnicook Ride 2013 "


-Saturday's CTR ! 26 miles (2 loops on the same trail - & back to camp for halfway)

He didn't whinny at all at camp settled in good , had a great Friday evening (although it was cool in the trailer! brrr! )



We did got our number for the weekend.... #13!! yay!! Kaaren and Odin are #14 , We go to our pre-vetting, Kizz was great!  mounted and waited for our turn to go out (just a few minutes) we stayed up near where the timer sits and he munched a bit and was pretty settled. We picked up a trot going out by the judges and out onto the trails! We went along the edge of a big field, trotted around it. He was great.

 We got onto the trails and they were a bit muddy. I had to dismount and re strap a boot right off :( he is interfering with his back - I think I may have rounded his toe back a bit much and he is breaking over quicker and reaching up quicker with his back and he is hitting the velcro and undoing his boot on me.  Then after a bit it happened again and we lost the boot. I went back to look for it and a lady found it for me , she waited for me to mount with me and we head back to where Kaaren was up head. Kizz was hyper and wondering where she and Odin were ! I dismounted as soon as the trail came out onto the pave and the lady handed me some vet wrap. I did both front feet all around the boots hoping it would keep him from undoing the velcro on back. 

We trotted all along the pave, he was happy happy. We kept a good steady pace and he did GREAT ! All along the ride we passed quite a few horses on trail and he was great.. We even had a few pass us and he didn't mind at all. (this would only be the second time we had horses pass us on trail before!) 

later on in the ride, going through some muddy trails , I seen the boot was almost undone again so I got down and hooked it to my strap to by breast collar. So now he was going in only 1 boot on front haha

We did the rest of the loop with just one boot. He did fine!  We came to a long slow grade up hill that had wonderful footing!! We cantered up almost all of it. We slowed down and trotted by a few groups of 2 and he did wonderful! The weather was awesome and the last 1/2 of the loop was beautiful trails!

When we got to halfway, we cooled down, got our P/R and then had a snack and drink. What a morning! I was having a blast!! I was thinking Kizz should be pretty quiet to mount for the second half again and he was! We mounted up and head out -- this time NO boots! 

We did the second loop much much quicker than the first (no stopping for boots made things smoother too!) the second loop we started out leaving at the end of the group but when we came in at the end, we were up quite a few horses!! 

The last big long hill we ride before hitting the pave and getting back to camp, he was still raring to go! I was tired! lol I didn't have to HOLD him back, but If I dropped my reins he would speed up ! I think he's caught the bug! lol

 We cooled the horses down, did our P&R and trot out and vet check and cleared fine!! Kizz was wonderful ,The vet even mentioned she watched US all day and was very impressed !!!  I was sooo soo happy!










After everything was taken care of, we headed to the garage for meeting and sat down to relax a bit and hear about awards. I was SO TAKEN BACK when it came to 1st place for TRAIL HORSE and our NUMBER WAS CALLED!!! I was in shock!!! I was honored and so proud as well!

We even came in 9th place out of 18 horses!!!! And that was after even leaving the hold at halfway LAST!!! WOW!

What a lovely first CTR we had!! I can't tell you how happy I was!!  and we got a shirt to remember the ride with! yay!!







we relax for a bit at the camp fire up at the house.. what a great day & evening!

Sat night around the campfire with some ladies :) (Sylvia on left, then Jennifer ,the rest I'm not sure)




-Sunday's 12 mile JP (same loop as before only halfway was on trail across a bridge and at a stream)

Didn't bother with the boots again as we were just taking the trail slow and he did fine without them the day before.
Mounted and waited around for our numbers to leave. Whenever Kaaren wandered off on Odin he got very upset and danced around. But he didn't whinny or take off on me.









 When it was our turn we walked off on trail and head out. We walked around the fields to the trails and then on the muddy trail he was super hyper. Whenever horses came up behind us he would dance and turn one side then the other. It was like trying to ride a snake! We pulled over to let a few pass. He wouldn't stop and kept turning and pawing. But we didn't leave until he settled with a loose rein. Then once we came out of there and got on the pave we trotted along. We passed a few riders and trotted the whole roadway. He settled a BIT finally. But the rest of the ride still had a ton of energy.

Half way at the JP we went through a covered bridge! He didn't mind at all! I was so surprised. He even seemed to LIKE the hallow loud thumping on the wooden floor!

Halfway he wasn't too inclined to drink at the stream but I wet him down some. He seemed a bit sunken in like he needed water too. I hand fed him a bit of Kaaren's pellets with Electrolytes in it. 
 His P/R was good. We waiting around a bit and then head out. He stood at the steep bank for me to mount nicely!

Once we got back on the regular trail we had been on he was excited to go.  If I just dropped the reins one little bit he would speed faster and faster. (Even with his buddy Odin behind us) but if I let him go he would only go so far until Odin was a ways behind then he would slow down. Pretty crazy that he was hyper to after doing 26 miles the day before and 12 miles Sunday!

We cooled off got our P&R taken. Then did our trot out and he was great. Stood great for the vet (Kaaren & Odin were also near by waiting since they were next ) he had a bit of puffiness on his legs from about mid cannon down. But was trotted sound down the drive even barefoot.





and MY best memory of this trail ride is...

On Trail Kaaren turns to me lifts up her fingers and starts ticking them off.. .. Your goals of Trail riding your horse this year.. CHECK, your goal for maybe next year doing a JP, CHECK.. your goal of maybe the year after doing a CTR.. CHECK!!  HAHA!! I could not have done this without her wonderful help, so thank you Kaaren for mentoring us, encouraging us and being there for us!!! XOXO 







Sept 21 -another nice training ride at home- New trail

I saddle up and head out, Kizz leaves good and quietly, we trot all the way up the access road and across the fields , once we hit the trail we go along pretty good :) there is a downed tree but we go around it into the woods, I 'm amazed how quietly and easily I talk him into this!! we go up the little woodsy trail to the ant hill road, go down along that, hit the pave (605) and down the Camp road towards the RR, he's super lazy and quiet! quietest he's ever been! We cross the ditch and hit the RR, we head up towards Kaaren.. I get to the ditch and CROSS it! super super good of Kizz to cross it so nicely all alone! We come upon Kaaren and Odin after a bit. We turn and head back down the RR , We go down the RR and head to the left towards Millville and cross the pave, we head to some new trails and go way out towards Barrets towards the back way to Woodstock. We go along the road some by The Chase's , have a few dogs come out at us, but its fine. We head on into a trail that takes us back towards home.

we hit the Logging road that runs behind me and I head towards home. I say goodbye to Kaaren and Odin and turn off onto the trail alone so Kizz knows we are leaving them. He doesn't act up too much, just a whinny and slow moving off, but then he trots along fine. We hit the "mowed trail" and he even stops for a drink and munch (he's never done this before when we are alone he is too nervous!) so I'm feeling pretty proud!!


HE is A1, once we hit our fields, we just walk across them . He doesn't rush me. Once we are about halfway down the Access road he starts whinnying but going along fine. I ask him to be quiet but it doesn't work very well lol

Great ride!!  17 miles! a lot of walking but it was beautiful out and the horses were great!







next up is the CTR and JP!! CAN we do it!?! Not only a 26 mile CTR, but a JP the next day!??

Sept 18th & 19th , pasture rides this week!

Rode a couple times this week in the pasture

First ride on Wednesday we had some tail swishing and general grumpiness but other wise it was a good ride! Trotted around some circles working on bending and moving out into a bigger circle. We went straight along the fence a few times and he was surprised! (we had only been doing circles down there then walking up) At first he didn't want to walk on! lol  we did a little bending in along the fence on straight stretches and then whoa and turn on the haunches and turn on the forehand. He did really good. We did some walk/trot/whoa transitions and worked on slowing down the trot (didn't go that well but its hard on bumpy sinky pasture.. I can't wait to have a RING!)

 He didn't whinny once! When we were in the back of the driveway untacking (working on STAND) Coby yelled and kizz swung his head and looked but I said NOOOO, and he didn't reply!! FIRST time ever! yahooo! Trimmed his feet and did some ground work too. Good time!


I tried on an English saddle I have here, to get some friends to see what type of pad I will need and if it's an ok fit for some riding around at home in it. Figure it could help my balance :)