Trail Ride #3 - not really

We ended up being short a truck and trailer this week due to the State Fair and Tricia's husband needing the truck for goats (I say the goats have a bus why do they need a trailer - ask Tricia about the goat bus sometime). And since it had rained the past week non stop we thought maybe the back trail would be a little slick. So it was down the road for us. Tricia's niece came and rode Corey for us. I saddled up Cody. Tricia was on Kalani and Steph was on Kiko. Even though it had rained and there was barely any gravel on the dirt road Cody was tripping and limping and acting quite like a baby for the first leg of the road. I started to think he was lame until we got to some grass and then he was just fine. It might be time to invest in some boots for him. He just can't handle the rocks. And I was a little worried since I haven't had the chiropractor out again for his re-check that he might be getting sore again but he was an angel once we got out of the rocks.

The greenies had a great ride and Corey also had a good ride with his young rider. We just made a short trip down the road and headed back. When we got back we decided to work on Corey's training for therapeutic riding. Lexi kept riding and we attacked Corey with balls and hula hoops and big blue tarps. He was a champ. He side stepped once when he stepped on the hula hoop the first time. After that he only tried to get away from the hula hoop when it ended up between his back legs. And his spooks were very small, Lexi had no issues riding him at all, and it was her first time in an english saddle. He also survived the crazy jumping sidewalker test. So we'll probably play with him a few more times and then I think he's ready for his new job at WCR.

Don't forget about the We Can Ride Trail Ride Fund Raiser coming up in September!

Trail Ride #2

We know better than to think it'll actually rain when it looks like it might. Though after this week we're probably wrong. Last week we went for trail ride #2. This time Tricia brought down her trailer and two of her horses along with her niece. Kalani still needed practice so he was Steph's chosen mount, and I chose Corey who needs some attention before he goes off to his new job of therapy horse. Kalani did pretty well in the trailer this time. The ride for me was quite different than on Axel. Corey pretty much just bounces the whole time. In fact he booked along at lightning speed so much that we might have nearly doubled our ride distance from the week before. And Corey hasn't really been ridden this year yet.

On the way back it was evident that he was getting pretty tired. He was darn sweaty and kept scratching his face on his leg. At one point he stopped to scratch, at least I thought, and instead he just laid down with me on top! He's one of those horses that just buckles and bam, he's on the ground. Most horses go down front first then back end. Not Corey, so I really didn't even have a chance to pull him up or even bail before he hit the ground. So once I figured out where his legs were I bailed. I'm glad he's a short horse. He didn't roll, probably because he was saddled. So I got him back on his feet and paid very close attention the whole way back. I figured he'd be pretty sore so we gave him some aspirin with his dinner (which he didn't appreciate).

Kalani was a champ getting in the trailer this time so he's officially off the hook for this week. The plan, if it's not still raining, and the trail isn't 3 feet of mud, is to take Olly, Kiko, Corey, and Cody out. Cody will be our last challenge for trailering. He just doesn't really want to get in the trailer. Perhaps with Corey and Kiko along things might go a bit smoother. I'm giving Axel some time to rest, Steph's dad is going to ride him for our trail ride fund raiser and I guess he's a big guy. But he does like to mosey along so that will make Axel a happy camper.

First Trail Ride

Well, first trail ride for Kiko and Kalani. Steph decided it was time that the greenies got a chance to ride in the trailer and go for a real trail ride. We especially wanted to test them prior to the trail ride fund raiser. The trailer loading didn't go quite as expected. We had only practice once, Kiko was a champ and Kalani had been surprisingly good as well. We put Axel on first with the intention of putting Kalani next to him. But after about 2 seconds of standing in the trailer, Axel gets bored and starts pawing and banging on the walls. Which in turn scared Kalani and he wouldn't get it. After untangling Axel and trying to convince him to get his feet under him, I unloaded him and we tried a different approach. Kalani wouldn't go in alone so we put Kiko in. Finally Kalani decided it was okay and he got in next to her. Axel squeezed himself in the back behind the middle divider and we were off.

It's a short drive down to the state trail, which is a good thing. There was a lot of stomping going on behind us. We pulled in and unloaded Axel to find Kalani had pinned Kiko in the front part of the trailer. It wasn't a cool day and Kiko was sweating bullets. Kalani was dry as a bone. We let the horses rest for a few minutes while we gathered our tack. And then we were off and running. Okay not really running. Especially me, Axel doesn't run, usually. I'm not sure how long or how far we rode. We didn't make it down to the open field for cantering nor did we make it to the picnic spot. But we were out there for quite a while. Axel was particularly annoyed that he had to walk up the sand hill, that was a bit more work than he was ready for. Kiko and Kalani did really well. They were curious and frightened of a few things but overall it was really uneventful. We had some nice trotting (the only time Axel can keep up). And Axel and I had some bucking when we tried to canter to catch up. I guess we have to put that on the list of things to work on.

We made it back to the trailer in once piece and it was still light out. The weather threatened a bit of rain but it turned out to be 2 drops. Our plan for exiting was going to be Kalani in first, then Axel. But Kalani would not go in. Steph didn't want Kiko in front because she didn't want her to get squished again. We decided that Axel wouldn't squish her (just spin around and try and stand on the wrong side of her like he tends to do) so we put Kiko in and then Axel and closed the middle divider. Wouldn't you know, even after standing exhausted by the trailer so quietly, Axel still managed to maneuver his way facing backward. I had to unclip him and just let him stand the wrong way. Luckily Kiko held her own and it ended up with Kiko facing forward but diagonal, and Axel crammed in the corner facing backwards. He, of course, deserved it.

After much fighting we finally got Kalani in the trailer in the back half and made our way home. Once again it was a bumpy ride but short. Kalani unloaded, Axel had his head stuck between the divider and the roof of the trailer, and Kiko unloaded fine. In the end we all survived and fed dinner in the dark. Cody hadn't jumped the fence and seemed fairly calm though he called to us quite a bit when we were leaving. I'm not sure the plans for next week. Tricia has a different trailer she thinks is bigger and she wants to bring Olly down for a ride. I think we're all pretty confident about Kiko so maybe it'll be a trail ride with Olly, Axel, and Kalani. Or maybe I should bring Corey instead, he needs the practice especially if he's going to be a therapy horse this fall.