Trail Riding FUN

Saturday July 11, I went to Proud Lake Rec Area to ride with Linda and her Friesien mare. We rode for 2.5 hours for a distance of ten miles. Her horse is almost twice as big as mine and has large stride, we trotted most of the way and some slow smooth canters. It was so much fun. See the youtube link below for the video.

https://youtu.be/B8J4_DzW5i0

Our horses were not in the best of shape but this ride was good for them to build their strength. It was a nice 82 degrees out and not too humid. They were great and I even rode Bella without touching the reins for part of the way. She listened to voice cue and seat. I wishi she was a long distance mount I am enjoying the faster pace rides, zipping along in the woods and plains. It is rejuvenating.

Until next time.

Hocking Hills Camping with horses

In June our barn family went camping down in the Hocking Hills State Park in Ohio. Our group was composed of 25 people and about 11 horses. We reserved campground spaces at Three Reasons Horse camp where we camped, setup our rigs and had access to bridle trails in Hocking Hills. Our horses were able to be stabled or in a large pasture. 

Bella started out in a stall but she was not happy as she is pastured 24/7 back home. Also she could see her BFF Spice in the pasture with other horses and really needed to be out there with them and not miss on the fun. The second day we put her in there. There were other mares and gelding in there that she knew but was never in same pasture with back home. They managed to find their group to hang with, separated in a couple of groups and stayed clear of each other. The dynamic was very interesting. Us humans spent a good thirty minutes by the gate just observing their behavior and how they communicated with each other.

Riding was really cool. Lots of challenging hills, up and down, beautiful views and trails. There are cliffs and waterfalls, miles of trails. This was worth the trip although that weekend was stormy each day and very humid. The humidity would soak us to the bones. Even the horses were getting hot very quickly. Bella would huff and puff after each climb. We still enjoyed it and I managed to get Bella to do a search and rescue to find a lost horse boot. She did fantastic and only complained a little when we first separated from the group. But she made me so proud and we found the boot. 

Ahhh cool water from the waterfall above.
Bella did not want to move.

Video of this waterfall

Walking in the river bed at the base of a canyon.

21 horse cave site.
All horses could fit in this deep cave.

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Overall a very successful weekend. We are already planning our fall camping trip, this time in Michigan near home. Maybe next year we can go and camp near the shore-to-shore trail system and attempt a few miles. That would be fun. 

Check back often for more updates!

I love that mare!

I have now owned Bella for one year and nine months and thus far she has made improvements and became such a great mare that I am truly enjoying being with her. She and I have bonded in a way I never though I would with a horse.

She knows me and nickers at me, comes to me in the field, and learns quickly. She is also forgiving of my mistakes, and for a pony mare she is very predictable. She is a trusted mount and listens very well to my cues and vocal demands. Of course there is much more to learn and she will need more refinement. But I could not see selling her at the moment, She is very fun to ride. Even when she wants to return to the barn. We will argue lightly and then she gives in to me and we continue on on our hack. I do think however she prefers arena work. Soon we will work on our western dressage routines and work on our trail challenge course.

Stay tuned.

Mo