Just a ride down the road

It was one of those days. Tricia arrived and we decided neither of us was in the mood to really "work" so we decided on a ride down the road. She and I haven't had many rides this past winter like we did the winter before. Just too much going on this year. The horses are still working on shedding their winter coats so after a little bit of grooming we saddled up and headed out. Tricia gave Cody another try and I followed along on Axel. Getting his teeth floated did not affect Axel's speed at all. Nor did the nice weather or "spring fever" or me kicking him in the ribs. Good ole Axel. Cody did his usual routine of trying to turn around to head home, but Tricia's able to nip that in the bud pretty quickly. And I think he actually relaxed a bit when he figured out he couldn't get away with anything. It seems like he'd do pretty well if I had a change to really ride him more often, he catches on quickly. It's too bad I wasn't able to get that gal to lease him this past fall. That would have really helped to have someone ride on a more regular basis.

In any case, we rode down towards the dead end where Axel and I had our little run in with the dog in the past. Very uneventful this time. It looks like the people at the end of the road have moved and taken their poor lonely horse with them. That road turns to a private road a bit further down so we turned around and headed back to the main dirt road. Much to Cody's dismay we didn't head right back to the barn but continued on away from the herd. Axel and I clearly need to work on lateral moves and general moving away from leg pressure. He insists on walking in the ditch even when the ditch is too small, and I have a heck of a time keeping him on a straight line on the edge of the road. Some of that might just be my fault of course. Poor Axel, slow as ever, he's going to cause me to borrow some spurs and try to learn to ride wearing those. At the very least I'm going to have to carry my whip even on trail rides.

When we got to the end of the gravel we turned around and headed for home. Cody managed to keep all his feet on the ground and not bounce home. He even tolerated being told to walk a few steps past the driveway instead of turning in right away. All in all it was a nice evening for a little jaunt down the road. Next "trail ride" we'll have to head up the back hill and see how things stand out there this spring. The ground is finally solid and we won't tear up the grass walking on it. Now if we can just resist the urge to put the horses out to pasture before May, we'll be all the better off.