Trot Day

Look!  We have a new couch!

The vet said I should have some days when I just trot in a straight line (well I suppose I do have to come back at some point :-)  ).  So today was the day.  As I have mentioned all too often lately, the ground is very wet so it wasn't the best footing. However we had a blast!

We walked north through the pastures to the railroad tracks and promptly started trotting east all the way to 95th St, 0.8 km (0.5 miles) stopping only to walk through a small ditch.  Then we trotted all the way back, turned around and did it again.  I thought I might walk across the road but I don't like roads and horses so I turned back.  This time we went further, past our gate to another ditch, didn't cross, turned again and went all the way back to 95th.  This time we crossed it.  There was no traffic at all on this late Sunday afternoon so even if we had a problem it was unlikely that a car would add to it.  He had never been there before.  There were signs, metal boxes, then a big lake (not natural) with houses and boats on the other side.  We just trotted merrily on our way.  I kept my aids and expectations just the same;  he looked around a lot but because I was steady he came back to a good outline every time.  However the ground was even wetter on this east side of the road, the old grass was thicker and I was really unsure of the footing.  Also I knew heading back west that the wind would be unpleasant and I would not be able to see a thing as the sun was very low and right in our eyes - all four of them.  So, bowing to caution, we turned back around and crossed the road without incident.  But then a tarp caught in the fence (brought there by the terrific winds we had this week) reared its ugly head and flipped poor Tetley inside out.  He bolted but I immediately did a one rein stop to the left and that was that!  What a good boy!  I can't say he settled but we trotted the rest of the way back in full control, at least of the speed, though our outline was history. We trotted approximately 3.5 miles.

I am excited to try this again but on a drier day, with the sun higher in the sky and less wind.  Hopefully the horse attacking tarp will be gone too but those things have a way of hanging around for months or even more. Most of the ride, all of which was at the trot he was on the bit in a good outline.  I am still amazed at this - it's all because I have that feeling now and can find it anytime/anywhere.