Spring Adventure

Why is Cody so sweaty, you might ask? Because he was a complete spaz on our trail ride today. Tricia came out after WCR so we could go for a ride. We invited Tom along to ride Corey. Tricia rode Axel bareback, I rode Cody with my english saddle (and brand new stirrup leathers, yay), and Tom rode Corey with a little western saddle. Tom had just been down the back pasture doing some work on the cabin so he suggested we ride down there since it was dry enough. Things went well on the way down the pasture and across the bridge. Corey led the way up the big hill and started to canter a bit. Cody decided he would not walk up the hill and scrambled up after Corey. After walking around the edge of the hill Tom cantered Corey in the open space. Cody freaked out and ran after him, at that point we had zero brakes. Tricia brought up the rear cantering Axel. She said he really wanted to buck but she must have been able to keep him from doing it.

At this point I could tell Cody was just going to ignore me no matter what. In hindsight I think that Corey leading the pack was just too much competition for Cody. We went through the woods with a few issues. Dancing around a bit when I tried to hold Cody back from running as fast as he could through the trees. A couple advanced level dressage moves that Cody doesn't actually know how to do but managed to pull out of his hat when Corey got too far ahead. In the end, even with all the dancing and me in an english saddle with slippery jeans, I stayed on and kept my composure as best I could.

Tricia had Axel in good control, made him walk most the way and kept him collected as best as Axel will collect himself. At one point after Corey and Cody took off running spastically in the woods, Tricia was holding Axel back as she walked him down and back up a ravine. He started to canter up the other side and got to the top where he tried to rear and his legs slid in the soft ground. Neither Tom nor I saw it, but Tricia said it woulda been quite the site. Once we got back across the bridge we went around the opposite way through the pasture. I did my best to walk Cody up the hill but he bounced his way up anyways. He did calm down a bit when he was leading and not chasing Corey. By the end of the ride he was soaked with sweat. Behind us Axel really wanted to run as well. Tricia was trying to slow him down so she steared him towards a low branch thinking he'd walk over it. He jumped! Well, more like he hopped over it because he was scared of it. But she said he tucked his legs up so she just let him go.

Man I wish I would have seen him jump (or hop)! So Cody was drenched in sweat when we got back to the barn. Axel was a little sweaty, and Corey was dry as a bone. Tricia brought all sorts of goodies with her this time. She had treats for the horses and brought me some Show Sheen. That stuff really does a good job on big thick tails like Cody's. I could comb right though it after spraying his tail with the show sheen. I'll probably go back out tomorrow and just groom and hang around for a while and maybe walk Beau up the road a bit.