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Outdoor Ride #2
May. 21st, 2014 10:15 pmLast night was my second outdoor ride on Chief - these are referred to as trail rides.
I love riding outside. Beautiful views, and Chief is very much in his element outside. He speeds up going in unfamiliar fields, but slows down in known/well-trod paths, because they are familiar & boring.
On trail rides, we go beyond the property lines. There is etiquette to this - stay on the perimeter of crop fields. When horses spook or you really need them to pay attention, you pull them in a tight circle to regain their focus on you. In new fields, you should only do that in an emergency, lest you trample baby plants trying to establish themselves.
We've had a lot of rain lately. As such, the grass and weeds have gotten pretty high. Thus, Chief was very naughty! He kept lunging forward to rip grass with his teeth & much on it.
This hurt my arms some, due to holding the reins. To scold him, I had to yank the reins to one of my hips. Horse neck muscles are way shorter on the sides, and easier to control by pulling that way. Pulling straight back toward my belly makes him stop walking, but he'll still bend down to take a mouthful of delicious grass.
As Chief continues to lose his winter coat, he becomes more handsome. Last night, my instructor undid his winter tail braid, trimmed the tail, & let it stay unbound for the summer. She also put some kind of varnish/moisturizer on the outside of Chief's and Cheyenne's hooves. This prevents their hooves from cracking.
I love riding outside. Beautiful views, and Chief is very much in his element outside. He speeds up going in unfamiliar fields, but slows down in known/well-trod paths, because they are familiar & boring.
On trail rides, we go beyond the property lines. There is etiquette to this - stay on the perimeter of crop fields. When horses spook or you really need them to pay attention, you pull them in a tight circle to regain their focus on you. In new fields, you should only do that in an emergency, lest you trample baby plants trying to establish themselves.
We've had a lot of rain lately. As such, the grass and weeds have gotten pretty high. Thus, Chief was very naughty! He kept lunging forward to rip grass with his teeth & much on it.
This hurt my arms some, due to holding the reins. To scold him, I had to yank the reins to one of my hips. Horse neck muscles are way shorter on the sides, and easier to control by pulling that way. Pulling straight back toward my belly makes him stop walking, but he'll still bend down to take a mouthful of delicious grass.
As Chief continues to lose his winter coat, he becomes more handsome. Last night, my instructor undid his winter tail braid, trimmed the tail, & let it stay unbound for the summer. She also put some kind of varnish/moisturizer on the outside of Chief's and Cheyenne's hooves. This prevents their hooves from cracking.
