six water horses

Our trainer typically plans a couple of group trail rides every year. The dates are picked weeks in advance. Mother nature hasn't been very cooperative in the past. Last years group Fall ride ended up being on the farm, between the raindrops. The weather looked like a spoiler once again, and riders started dropping like flies. What a bummer! We actually had a nice group going for a full day ride, with three couples and two single riders, picnic included. For a week straight we watched the Wednesday weather, hoping for a change from the forecasted thunderstorm & rain. It was sunny and gorgeous the day before, but not the case on the chosen day. The ride was cancelled.

The day arrived, and the forecast had shifted back a little. The bad weather was suppose to end by noon. One of the couples and a husband had already decided to go back to work, but the rest of us were still in for a half day afternoon ride. With open trailer slots, the apprentice came with us. We switched our plans to a closer location, with much flatter terrain. It was hot and very muggy when we left the barn. I didn't bother bringing either of the three coats I had in our truck. Big mistake. We drove through some rain, and by the time we got to Ukarydee - it was very windy and cold! The forecast on my phone said it was suppose to drop another ten degrees by late afternoon. Great. I was already frozen and we hadn't even hit the trail yet. What was I thinking? Apparently I wasn't. Thankfully both trailers have live-in quarters, and I borrowed a long sleeve shirt and lined windbreaker. It was the perfect amount of layers. On with the ride! 

Koda and Nemo had some big shoes to fill and were deemed the "old seasoned horses". The other four horses in our group had never been on a trail ride. Checkers, a reining horse, Phoenix, a show horse, Tess, a three year old, and our Cierra, who is four. The two younger horses were lunged, while the rest of us rode around the starting area. I tried to snap a few pics with my phone, but they are not very good...sorry. I had high hopes for my iphone camera on the trail, but think I'll switch back to my pocket camera...

unloading area
Cierra, Phoenix, Tess, Nemo, Koda (L-R)

Koda & Nemo were bookends for the first stretch of the ride. We passed a random guy in the woods collecting mushrooms (twice) that raised some ears. I spotted a hawk playing in the wind. I so love to soak in the beauty that surrounds us! But when I shared my winged find with the others, I noticed all the new trail horses started floundering. The riders were distracted looking for the hawk. Oops, won't do that again on this ride. 

heading out
Nemo, Cierra, Tess, Phoenix, Checkers, Koda (L-R)

The prettiest part of our ride was the pines. At that point I was leading, and tried to snap some pics behind me. Needless to say, they didn't turn out. Once out of the pines, the paths are lush, narrow and curvy. Koda & I turned a corner and spotted a random dog on the trail, who quickly disappeared. Probably a good thing. I never did see his human, and he wasn't with the mushroom guy. 

Shortly after the pines the trail started getting muddy. The further we rode, the muddier they got. It was the slippery hoof sucking kind, and none of the horses liked sinking down in it. I mumbled to myself "I know where this path is leading". Our trainer heard me, and since I am typically directionally challenged, she asked if I really knew. Ohhhh heck yeah, I know exactly where this trail leads...I will never forget our first ride at Ukarydee when Koda lost his mind while refusing the water crossing.

Somewhere along the trail Koda did his bait-n-I don't want to lead anymore-switch...sigh. I need to catch these sooner! I wasn't about to get in an argument on a slippery narrow muddy trail with this bunch. I knew why he did it. Koda knows exactly where this trail leads. 

Nemo got to the water crossing first, and was coaxed into being the lead horse to cross. Such a brave guy! He'll do anything for Brad. Then Checkers, who is always on forward march, went right through the water. Our trainer was busy determining with the remaining riders, if we should turn around. Much to my surprise, when I asked Koda to cross he stopped briefly to take a closer look and then walked right in. We paused in the middle, and Koda got lots of love. Our trainer turned to yell "let's go back" from around the trees that were blocking her view, not realizing three of us were already across the water. It was a funny moment, and we all busted out laughing! Three of us stood on one side, and three on the other bank. It was the incentive the remaining riders needed, to at least try crossing the water. 

Our trainer hopped on Phoenix to cross her with Nemo in the lead, before having her owner ride her across. Back across they went for Cierra's turn. All of us crossed back and forth with ease. The water crossing was definitely the highlight of the trip!

Nemo, Phoenix, Cierra waiting to cross (L-R)

Cierra taking it all in stride

We are all amazed everyone crossed the water with no fuss. Who knew we had six water horses?! Cierra really enjoyed being on the trail. We are very proud of her and as you can see in the above photo, so is our trainer. It was fun having three of our horses on the trail together. 

It was getting late. After maneuvering more mud covered trail, we decided to take a sandy quiet road that leads straight back to the unloading area. A car slowly passed us from behind on the road, none of the horses cared. Taking everything into consideration, it ended up being a fairly challenging ride and gave all the horses good experience in various ways.

After we got back to the barn, it was so nice that Phoenix's owner gave us a heartfelt thank you. She said the ride meant so much to her on so many personal levels. We really didn't do anything out of our ordinary, and are so thankful for the ride as well. Meaningful experiences are what life is all about. 

unexpected obstacles

We went on our first ACTHA Ride for the Mustangs at Ukarydee yesterday. We rode as buddies of our trainers client/friend, and loved it!! Our trainer Patty was suppose to come with us. She so wanted to do the ride herself, just as much as she wanted us to do the ride. However, unexpected serious family matters came up. Just as we were pulling off the interstate headed to her place in the wee hours, we got the call from her.

Before we could suggest turning around, she said "take my truck & trailer, I'll call my friend and let her know you are on your way". Wow...talk about obstacles...take away the comfort of a trainer, put yourself in a truck you've never driven, in a larger horse trailer then you're used to hauling, without your trailer stuff, taking young horses to their first large group ride, to a competition you've never done, with people you've never met, to test a brand new saddle. All I can say is, we are very honored to have our trainers full trust in more then one way.

Nemo & Koda upon arrival, pretty unconcerned with their new surroundings.

We were greeted with a very warm welcome. Have I mentioned lately, I can't believe how friendly horse people are? We met new friends, let our horses settle in, and listened to the rider/obstacle intro before heading out on the trail. Both hubby & I agree ACTHA is a very friendly welcoming group, who's focus is on enjoyment and safety. Buddy Riders are not judged, but are allowed to do the obstacles as long as competitors are not waiting - a great way to find out if this type of competition is for you, and if your horse is ready. We had previously done a pleasure ride at Ukarydee, it was our first traveling trail ride ever with our boys a little over a year ago.

We were the first group to head out, down the road we went. The obstacles were challenging, but a lot easier then expected. Our young horses were more then ready to overcome unexpected obstacles, and apparently so were we. The first obstacle was a rope "gate" that we would have liked to have tried, but alas rider's were behind us. Koda backed up to meet the new horse from the group that was suddenly inches from his butt, with raised ears. He could have listened to my never mind/forward cue sooner, but I can't entirely blame my curious boy. Most riders would not have approached so closely... We continued on and found out, the approaching group was not part of the ACTHA ride. Who knew? We moved on, enjoyed the scenery and tried other upcoming fun obstacles.

Our ride included a combination of grassy area's & woods.
Brad & Nemo are ahead, along with Peggy & Chris on their respective mounts.

...we rode through pines...

...through open grassy area's...leading to trail obstacles...

...Chris and her Palomino just completed the mounting obstacle...

Brad & Nemo looking up at the hat on a stick.
They completed the hat obstacle, in a super fast 5 seconds!
We were all successful! Koda & I only took 10 seconds (35 was the max).

...Koda thinking, it's sooo hard to wait our turn...

The ride was not without it's challenges. We ran into the aforementioned group at another key point, where Chris's Palomino wound up to kick the very same horse that Koda had looked wonky at...weird...97% of the ride was calm and very enjoyable. Considering the large number of horses at this event, we didn't run into a lot of other riders. 

Being the experienced rider that Chris is, she spun her horse around and avoided confrontation (aka kick). The strangest part is, at the very end of our ride while heading back on the road "to camp" these folks were upon us once again. They rode up on the other side of the road. Let it be known they were very nice, but as soon as that same horse & rider approached, Koda began to act up. He started to do "the jig & hunch" I asked "what are you doing" he stopped, but hunched again, with a little rear lift this time, to which I replied "knock it off" and then, he gave a larger hunch with a pony kick/lil buck ~ and I dismounted. It could have been a bug biting him, or his youthful self not knowing what to do with whatever energy/dislike the approaching horse brought. So odd...over the hours we were approached by other horse & riders, with nothing more then a glance from any of our four horses.

I found out after the fact the approaching horse had been doing circles (Brad & Nemo were watching) no doubt creating/dispersing energy. It may be unrelated, but it was odd the only trouble we had involved that horse. No excuse for silly behavior. That guy was a concerned rider, that stopped to ask if we were okay. I was, I had chosen to dismount. It caught Koda by surprise, he backed up a few steps and stopped. I've seen that face before. I let him know it was okay, not praise, but nothing to fear. We defused for a short while and I hopped back on, to end our ride on a good note. 

I will be curious to hear what our trainer says about our ride in general, and specifically about the last part...my instinct was "she's not going to be happy with either of us, I should have stayed on, Koda can't do that" but both Peggy & Chris said "Really? we think Patty would be proud of you". I think they are right. Regardless, I did what I had to do to feel right - and honestly, I was fine. They made me feel better, joking I did an obstacle and they didn't even get to watch. Gotta love it :)

Altho we missed sharing this ride "of firsts" with our Frainer (trainer/friend) Patty, we really had fun! Koda & I tried all the obstacles, with the exception of the rope gate. Too bad, that was one we had practiced. Peggy & Chris were great, we are thankful to have had the opportunity to be their buddies and look forward to future rides with these great gals! We plan on joining ACTHA in 2012, for more fun on the trail!!

you want me to cross what?

We finally made the anticipated trip up to Iron Horse for our second trail ride. With all the rain we’ve had, we weren’t sure we would be going anywhere but the indoor arena. I didn’t care, as long as we rode. It had been a whole week, but who’s counting…besides me.

We didn’t have enough riders to warrant taking two trailers, so keeping with our goal of seeing how Koda handled our trailer we loaded the boys, took them for a spin, and then unloaded them. You should have seen the look on their faces when they got out of the trailer and were back at Iron Horse lol. I’m happy to say Koda continues doing great. No time to waste, into the next trailer they went along with Sweetie. You may recall she went with us on our first trail ride. The six of us headed off to Ukarydee (also known as Castle Rock). It was a lot longer of a drive up then we expected, but well worth it. It rained most of the way and magically stopped shortly before we arrived. You gotta love it when that happens. All the way up I wondered what we were in store for. It’s one thing to ride in the rain at “home” where you can quit when you want to, yet another to be wet and cold out on a new trail. Of course we were the only ones riding in the park with the shifty weather, which actually was very serene. The wild flowers were in full bloom, what a variety! Bunnies and deer were scooting around. We were surrounded by quiet nature with pine plantations, open prairie areas, and oak forests. The trails were mostly sand, but as expected we ran into several muddy puddle areas. I quickly learned Koda doesn’t like crossing water/mud. Great.

This trail ride was a big step up from our previous ride for all three horses, and about as challenging as Patty suggests we get this season. I agree. We all switched around leading, following, riding in the middle – and yes, not wanting to go into the puddles. Thanks goodness Sweetie stepped up as the older puddle horse, or I’d still be there trying to get Koda to cross the water. Nemo had his puddle resisting moments too, but with Sweetie’s lead he crossed them all. Koda proved to be the real challenge. This seems to be a reoccurring theme. But what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger, right?!

On my first attempt crossing a large puddle with Koda, I allowed him to walk on the edge vs right smack through the middle. It was about 6 feet to cross. I was feeling pretty good that I was successful in getting him to move forward. Of course I didn’t expect him to walk on the very edge, and then shy, which found my knee smacking against a tree. That felt more like pain then success. It only takes once to remind a person to not allow that to happened again! With that determination we made it across various other water puddles of different sizes shapes and lengths, much better - until they got larger. We got stuck on a larger puddle, about 10 feet to cross. That’s where we started the back-up “ I’m not going in there” routine. After many attempts to move him forward, Patty asked me to back him in. If he wants to back, then back him right in. So I did, and it worked – actually we turned around mid-puddle and walked forward through the rest. And then “dun-dun-duuuuun” (that’s the sounds of scary dooms-day stuff coming up) is it even safe to cross that HUGE no longer classifies as a puddle, ‘er body of water?? Six pairs of eyes got reeeal wide in a hurry. The river was behind us, in front of us looked to be an overflow flooded trail pass…so we decided it should be okay to cross. Our tall puddle horse went first. Even Sweetie didn’t like the feeling of the even gooshier edge, but mid-way she waded on through like she crossed bodies of water everyday. Nemo also eventually made it through with their help, however Koda and I didn’t. We got to the edge and out came the “you want me to cross what?”…I tried, and tried but Koda kept backing, jiggin’ and wiggling. I remembered an earlier arena ride when I tried to out stubborn Koda, this time when Patty offered to help – I accepted it right away. I knew by the way he was acting it was beyond me to get Koda across something that big. I could keep trying, but….between the slippery mud and tight area I just didn’t know how far I was willing to go. The only thing I hadn’t tried was dragging, I mean leading, Koda across. Wasn’t likely to work with the footing, depth, and his resistance combined. Not to mention I would have gotten sopping wet. So Patty and Sweetie came back across to help us, and we switched horses. Now, let me tell you what a difference that was. Sweetie has pent-up energy to spare, and has spent her life making her own decisions – and here we are together for the first time in a stressful situation. So we waded, checked out the path ahead, and stood still for 2 point 2 seconds before doing it all over again. She can’t stand still (Patty is re-training her). We would stand for a short while, but with nowhere to go, or even dismount, back across the water we went lol, several times. I felt better moving on her, then feeling her energy fuel while standing still. Besides, we needed Sweetie’s help to get Koda across.

I didn’t feel too bad about not getting him to cross. Patty had to get off Koda twice herself, and was having a lot of trouble too. It was a tough situation. He had stopped thinking and was about to get himself hurt. The water was around a bend, and there was such a small open path area that he couldn’t keep stepping back further and further. If he did, he would have hit a small decline that would have landed him into the real body of water behind us – a guaranteed disaster. How do you tell a horse that, when they aren’t thinking? Apparently he hadn’t noticed it, he was so focused on the water in front of him. She had to be kinda hard on him to get him to stop backing and reacting with random movement, that was anything but forward. She felt bad. We all did. But it could have gotten ugly. Koda needed to start using his brain so he didn’t get hurt, or hurt someone. Sweetie was calm (for her) as we stood in the scary body of water trying to give him reassurance the goopy mud wasn’t going to swallow him up. Patty doesn’t think Koda’s deal is a water depth thing, she thinks he doesn’t like the squishy feeling under his feet. Who knows. That over flow was about 30 feet to cross and forever long, not something you can go around. It was about 2 feet deep. Thankfully, Koda came to his senses and just plain ol’ gave in and plodded through the water for Patty – and every puddle thereafter.

We continued on the trail for a while before switching back to our original horses. Whew. Altho it was fun to be on a tall energetic horse for a while, I really don’t know Sweeties pent-up quirks and didn’t feel like flying today. I couldn’t believe how different the two horses felt underneath me. It was night and day. I was very happy to get back on my Koda! The rest of the ride was uneventful. We were all tired, and believe it or not relaxed. We had all experienced a beautiful ride with a high level of learning. We were very proud of our mounts, all of them. That was a challenging ride for our young horses.

I’d like to go back to Ukarydee, in dryer weather (surprise, surprise). Altho I hear the bugs get bad, but it must be absolutely gorgeous in the fall. Regardless, we’ll go back. In the interim, I’ll continue working on Koda crossing water!