Getting out on the Trails

Each of the three days Erin was home last week we got both horses out for some time along the trails.  Thursday our friend Cari drove down for a visit and she and Jessie had a great time together.  Cari said that Jessie might be the one to change her mind about mares!  Friday after work we had a great ride together, and on Saturday morning we were out and about for an hour.  Each time the horses were more relaxed and seemed to appreciate that the Loop trail by the house was starting to become familiar.

Guinny has indeed been bolder with his little sister by his side when we come upon scary things along the ride.  Mostly.  Last week we found a new trail off the power line but were challenged a little by a rusty old abandoned bus. Poor Guinness was sure it was going to kill him! Unfortunately he refused to stand still long enough to see that it wasn't deadly, instead frantically backing up like a spider and spinning wildly 180 degrees to bolt from it.  Thankfully Erin rides him in the Amerigo dressage saddle (read: deep seat, long legs) for just that reason and though he's not trying to be naughty he just can't help himself sometimes. After about a half dozen spins with no sign of willingness to go forward (and almost clobbering Jessie and Shanna more than once on his way backward) we decided that proving a point wasn't a good idea right then.  So Shanna expertly led Jessie up to the scary pile of metal and she stopped to think about it.  Though Jessie looked really hard at it, she was willing to walk past it, leaving poor Guinness with little choice other than to follow his brave little sister.  This was exactly why we decided to add Jessie to our family -- because she has a good head on her shoulders (not to mention a pretty one) and we figured her boldness would help Guinny to deal with "scary" things like metal and water and shadows and people and deer and squirrels and logs and mushrooms and whatever else he swears is trying to eat him.

After awhile he was proud of himself and we decided to have him and Erin lead through the familiar woodsy trail.  There are some nice places to pick up a slow, collected canter and Big G was happy to oblige. After a minute he settled down and got used to the fit of his Big Boy Pants, leading at a canter for most of the rest of the ride! Shanna kept waiting for him to screech to a halt at any moment as he's apt to do, but he was awesome and brave and thoroughly enjoyed himself once he started to listen to and trust his rider.

When we got back to the house Uncle Neal was waiting to take our picture in the front yard!

They've both settled into a quiet life with us here at the house. We keep thinking we'll get out and ride with a trainer again soon, but schedules and energy levels and time off together have all been at a premium lately. We're still working on the barn little by little (it needs to have outside walls finished soon), in between busy full-time jobs for both humans. But the horses are content to snooze and play and hang out in their spacious paddocks until evening comes when we get out to stretch our legs together in the woods.

Shanna and Jessie went up the trail by themselves last week and poor Guinness just about lost his mind! We've clearly got work to do helping him to understand that his sister will be coming right back. It's expected that they'd both have separation issues (we've yet to remove him and leave her) so it's on our list of things to work on. Everything in time....

Meanwhile, there are few things more lovely than sipping our morning coffee in lawn chairs in the paddocks while Guinny and Jessie are having breakfast. Of course, the Big Guy loves his own lick of java too!

After all, he IS now living very near the coffee snob capital of the universe!

A little post-breakfast dirt coating