local arena ride

Went with a friend to the local arena, which is really big, and rode there. Major needed to be coaxed (with food) into her small trailer, but he trailers fine. Just testing me! At the arena it was great to be able to canter great big circles (we have a hard time in our smaller arena). I'm sure out of shape to be cantering so much! Rode on the small trail in the park, went into the steam, he was happy to do that. It was a good outing. My friend did have a good insight, that Major acts like a kid with his short attention span! He really tries, but can only do it for so long! Her horse (who is sometimes spooky) is 16, and really doesn't mind standing still, the things that Major was annoyed at hardly bothered her horse. Also found out they both like peanut butter and jam sandwiches...

Our longest ride so far

Saturday was a perfect first day of Spring. Major seemed ready to go when I got him from the pasture. I saddled up, filled my water bottle, and got out on the trail about 11. Took the trotting trail, out to pioneer express, down to Granite Bay. Everything went really smoothly. Did meet an entire pack (group, troop!) of boy scouts, full packs and gear, eating lunch on the side of the trail. Major barely batted an eye, good boy! Couple times got an amazing extended trot, it was smooth and we were flying...nice to know what I can look forward to! At the staging area he a was a bit nervous from all the horse trailers, neighing, banging, etc. He settled down, we only stayed about 20 minutes, turned around and came back. No hassle coming home, amazing! Did meet the scout troop one more time, we just followed them to our cutoff. I think it is great training, really like the trail challenges and learning how he'll handle them. A very good day, a very good pony...

In the beginning…

Oh, no, nothing that serious. I'm just going to write about my adventures with my horse Major! Mainly so I'll be able to see our progress. It is easy to forget what we've accomplished, as day-to-day it isn't much, but over time I see a great trail horse emerging.

I had 10 years of riding (only as an adult) before making the jump to buying my own. I had a couple years of horse misery (buying a great horse, going permanently lame, retiring him, him dying). After some time, I got Major in August 2009. Major was a green 6-year-old arab, informal training only. My great trainer thought I could do it...and I didn't really believe her, though now I see that I can. I should do more arena exercises, but I get bored really quickly training myself. So we hit the trails! (we'll work in the arena more, I know we need to…)

Major is brave and bold, and definitely thinks he knows best...we're working on that! In the arena he listens and is very well behaved. On the trail, I have a different horse. Often he just wants to go faster and faster, not understanding the rocky patch up ahead is NOT for cantering horses. In a short time he is getting so much better. Now I can actually see that he'll be a really great horse once we both figure out what we want. For now, we do lots of circles and listening exercises on the trail.

I'm going to use this blog to chronicle the trails and trials of our adventures. This will be like a calendar for me, so probably not very interesting to anyone else. I'm also going to try and keep track of: photos of Major's feet (he's barefoot), my use of hoof boots, my tack and how it is working/not working, maybe LD endurance (?) and any other random thoughts...