Well it started out looking pretty raining and miserable but by the time I got to the barn it was starting to clear up. It was still super windy but I figured since the trail was in a valley it wouldn't be as bad down there. I gathered all the stuff I thought we'd need and got it ready to go. I started grooming Cody when Jeff and Damin arrived. They decided to check the place out since Damin hadn't been to see the horses here yet. While they went on a hike I finished grooming Cody and started in on Axel. Steph and Jon showed up and they got Corey ready. We had gotten all the horses ready to go and packed up the truck and were just about ready to load the horses. Jeff and Damin were still out wandering in the woods but were just about back so we put Axel in first. He can't stand there for more than 5 minutes before he gets antsy and starts to try and turn around, thus leaving no room to put the next horse in. We had Corey in there next but he started fidgeting as well and we hadn't gotten Cody in yet. So Corey came back out and we tried Cody again. He was still pretty hesitant but would get as far as two feet in before deciding to back out. Once Corey was out of the trailer, Cody decided he had enough room atleast, and after much coaxing, Steph was able to get him in. It probably only took 10-15 minutes to load everyone but it always seems longer when you're standing there waiting. Corey hopped right up and we were off!
Luckily it's a short drive so the boys didn't have long to wait. We unloaded them right away and tied them to the trailer while we got situated and filled out our paperwork. They had lots of goodies for everyone, food, horse treats, pens and other odds and ends, and a WCR sweatshirt. We hung around long enough and tacked up the boys to get ready to head out. It was a ride as much or as little as you want type of ride. They had prizes to give out at 2 but you could pick them up on your way back. After some blanket swapping, and girth swapping we had everyone dressed. The ride started out pretty decent. Corey was a little excitable but nothing terrible. Cody was actually walking, and Axel was his usual unflappable self. We met up with a group of mares and their riders. Cody and Corey decided they needed to be part of that group. We rode with them for quite a ways and the only issue was our boys trying to get a little too close, but no one pinned ears or got mad. Finally we were tired of holding them back and decided to pass the group. This was followed by a turkey or grouse scaring Corey and Cody, just a small spook to the site. We were still trotting and they only missed one beat when the bird scared them. Cody's trot wasn't giving him the distance he wanted so he started cantering, followed by, but still in front of him, Corey. Axel brought up the rear at a slow trot. We cantered for quite a ways and put some good space between us and the group of mares.
We went along fairly calmly for quite a ways more. Had a couple more short canters in there before Cody started getting kind of tired. And with that, he also got very cranky. He stopped and made an effort to turn around and head "home." We fought, it wasn't pretty, but I won. We continued on for a few more minutes before we decided to turn around. We had been out over an hour and probably went 5 miles or so. It was a good time to head back. Of course he horses found some well of energy and Corey and Cody were on a mission to trot (or run if allowed) all the way home. I tried several tactics to get him to slow down. Weaving, which lead to speeding up. Aiming for the weeds. Getting behind Corey or Axel, which lead to Cody just trying to pass. I asked for some circles, which was like asking someone to give up their first born child. We managed to make a few super fast spins in a circle. About half way back he finally started mellowing out again and things were pleasant.
By that time Jon was feeling pretty comfortable with Axel and he passed Cody and I at a canter. I held Cody back but that only caused more issues in the end. Because now Axel was far ahead of us and instead of just cantering to keep up, Cody broke out in a gallop. It wasn't a terrible gallop, quite easy to ride actually, but I had to wonder if he planned on stopping when he caught up to Axel, or if I had totally lost him, and we'd gallop the rest of the way home. Luckily he slowed down when he approached Axel and that was it. He was pretty good the rest of the way home. A little rushing here and there, same with Corey. But they had relaxed enough that their sweat started drying from the wind.
So we made it back in one piece. Another 2hour+ ride, probably 10 miles, and my hips and knees were pretty sore. We untacked and left the horses to dry and got them some water. My boys learned on the last trip that yucky water is better than no water and guzzled it down. Corey turned his nose up at it. We retrieved our prizes. There weren't very many people at the ride so everyone won something. I ended up with a yellow feed bucket (yay Axel's color) filled with a bunch of grooming supplies and other horse stuff. Steph collected the most pledges so she won a saddle. And she won a leather halter and bridle bag and bag of sweet feed, and Jon also won a bucket of fun things.
We put Axel in the trailer and fought with him to get him to stand in the right place while we tried to get Cody in. Cody still wasn't very willing to just jump right in. Steph lunged him a bit and got the front feet in and repeated that several times, he just wouldn't put his whole body in the trailer. But now he doesn't seem scared, just stubborn. In the end he did get in, of course, probably took another 10-15 minutes. Corey jumped right in and we were heading for home. There was a lot of calling and whatnot as we drove up the road and Kiko and Kalani noticed us. The unloading went fine and everyone was tucked back in their pasture.The moral of the story is that we'll be working on the trailering thing a lot more. Steph and I might take the boys down to that trail more often since it's so close and is good practice for them to go out for a few hours. I hope we get a chance to get out atleast once more this fall before it snows. We'll probably get Anne to join us and maybe Tricia would bring her horse down, who knows.
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