Despite the gorgeous weather the turn out for the WCR trail ride was dismal. But those of us that did make it made the best of it. Steph and I and Jeff went to the barn early to pack up the trailer and get the horses ready to go. A was going to meet us and follow us over. I successfully backed the truck up to the trailer and then pulled the trailer out of it's parking spot so we could load. Axel got in first as usual with no issues. Cody got in with only a minor amount of reassuring and *NO* backing out. We then had to help Vinnie load in A's trailer so the boys stood in the trailer waiting and they were exceptionally patient. I was just surprised Cody got in so willingly and that Axel didn't put up a fuss while standing there waiting.
When everyone was loaded up and ready to go we pulled out and hit the road, me driving! Only one issue that could have been a big deal, stopped at a light I probably should have just ran, on the way. We missed a turn and got a little lost but it only took a trip around the block to get corrected. And parking at the park was pretty easy since we were fairly early. It was warm out so the boys were pretty sweaty when they unloaded, then they stood in the sun eating hay while we situated the trail ride. So by the time everything was set I had two sweaty messes. We tried to put them in the shade and cool them off before they got their massages but they were still pretty nasty and the poor massage gal had some really dirty hands after my boys. Cody was kind of fussy between wanting to keep an eye on everything around him and the flies I'm not sure he took time to enjoy his massage. Axel had some issues with the flies as well and he had the hiccups. Seriously, hiccups. So weird. But since he's an itchy horse this year he did show us which spots he was happy to have massaged by curling his lip and making everyone laugh.
When it was evident no one else was going to show up, A, Steph, another gal, and I set out to the wooded portion of the trail to avoid the heat. It was pretty rocky and just about all of the horses in our group were unhappy about that. Even Cody with his boots on wanted to wander into the woods instead of staying on the trail. We made a stop in the lake for a sip of water. Cody stayed on shore, it was so muddy I was afraid he'd loose a boot. Axel tried to go for a swim and ended up covered in mud. We decided to stop back at the picnic area and take a break before heading out on one more loop of the trail. The horses appreciated the break and a sip of water and more fly spray while we packed up some of our stuff so we were ready at the end of the day.
A ended up bringing in the second most money so she picked out the western saddle and Steph as usual brought in the most money and was taking home the english saddle. When everyone was set to go we went out on the dog/horse trail that goes around one of the lakes. We had been on that trail the first time we visited Murphy. So now there's just one loop or so that we haven't seen. By the end of the day the horses were tired as well as the people. My hips were killing me, my stirrups were too long but since we were taking it easy I didn't bother fixing them. I think it's what made my hips hurt though. So up a couple holes on that saddle next time.
After we untacked and everyone had their share of water we dumped a few buckets on them to wash off some of the sweat and mud. Everyone loaded like an expert and they were starting to figure out how they need to squish a little for us to close the dividers in the trailer. It was a fairly uneventful drive home in the trailer and everyone survived. Cody unloaded so carefully and quietly he got extra praise as I was so impressed. Sadly I think it's because he's afraid now, but a quiet unloading horse is a quiet unloading horse.
No comments:
Post a Comment