Sunny Sunday Ride

I met Anne and her son out at the barn today for a ride. Both of her sons were going to come out so I had all three horses groomed and ready to go. But her eldest chose hockey over horses so it was just her youngest son. So Corey lucked out and didn't have to go for another ride this weekend. I rode Cody and Anne and her son doubled on Axel. Bjorn wanted to ride Axel alone so Anne led him around the round pen a few times while I finished fidgiting with Cody. We were all set to go so we headed down the back hill. Axel looked like he was feeling pretty good and he was really stepping out down the hill. Cody was cruising but it turned out he was just trying to distract me while he spun around and tried to head back to the barn. He tried twice before we go to the first gate. After that he wasn't too bad the rest of the way down the hill. We crossed the bridge and made a loop at the bottom of the hill. On the way toward the hill up the back trail Cody decided he was going to take a detour through the woods. Tom's son had cut a new trail so we weren't barreling through the trees or anything, I think Cody thought this was a quicker way home. When we came back out of the loop we were aimed back up the hill; I don't think Cody thought that far ahead.

So up the hill we went and we completed the loop at the top of the hill and came out to the meadow with no issues from Cody. We went for the woods first. As usual Cody was having none of me telling him that we were going to walk down and up the hills. I put a new curb strap on his bit so he was pretty pissed when he realized I had a bit more leverage than usual. He ran down the hill flipping his head all over the place the whole way. A little ways down the trail a tree had fallen in the path so that was the end of that ride. We turned around and headed back out of the woods, stopping on the way to pick some sumac berries for Christmas decorations. Neither horse was overly happy to stand still while we picked berries but we did our best.

Cody managed to walk most of the way down the first hill and could only canter up a few strides before running into Axel's rear. I have no idea what is up with that hill, he refuses to walk it. By this time he was already sweaty. Luckily it was warm and sunny out so he'd dry off quickly. We made a loop around the meadow and then headed for home. We ran into a hunter across the fence when we got to the bottom of the hill. Hopefully we don't ever run into hunters on our trails while we're riding, yikes.

Cody was excited we were heading home so I had to hold him back on the way up the last hill. He's such a goober sometimes. Both horses were sweaty under their cinches and a bit on their chests, but after some rolling they'll be fine. I do have to finish sewing my cooler just in case they get sweaty and it's too cold out. Bjorn rode Axel around the round pen again by himself. After we untacked the horses I still had a lead rope and halter so we grabbed Corey and Bjorn rode Corey around the pasture bareback. He was really cute, cuddling Corey and snuggling into his furry winter coat.