To liven up the horses a little, we decided to take them somwhere different in the trailer.
'Mr F' hasn't been out in the trailer since he had that fall inside the trailer, due to the driver doing an emergency brake, resulting in both me and 'Mr F' falling. I was luckily with him in the trailer because the first part of the journey (just up the road) was just 'Mr F' on his own. I didn't want him to panic inside the trailer and so I went with him. This is another piece of the story that I yet have to convert into a blog post when I have time.
This was back in August I think or even before and since then he hadn't been near a trailer.
'Lillian' suggested a trip to a lovely spot nearby which we had been before and I remember it to be most pleasant with plenty of views and changable terrain, such as open fields, dark woods etc.
I was hoping the change of scenery would bring back some life into 'Mr F'.
Trailer loading went surprisingly well considering his last experience. There was a little hesitation at first but I found the best way to get him into the trailer is to lead him towards the ramp purposefully yet relaxed and when the point comes where he likes to stop and pretend that he is 'thinking about it', just ignore it and continue. He immediately follows willingly. This workes almost every time.
'Kitten' too was OK with the loading.
The trip to our start point went well. 'Mr F' was a little sweaty when unloading but nowhere near as much as he used to. We tacked up and went on our way.
At first there was a good distance on the road and both were a tad excited so there was much jogging going on. But eventually both calmed down.
'Mr F' was full of beans and really enjoyed it. His body movement was smooth and free. As I ride with just a bareback pad, I can feel what is going on underneath me in some detail.
We went over open fields and eventually came to a large wooded area. 'Lillian' knew the area quite well and suggested we would go off the bridle path and follow some tracks into the woods. It was great!
There were narrow passages, there were tree roots and big rocks, there was mud and big puddles, and 'Mr F' really loved it all! He was very clever with placing his feet so that he didn't slip and slide around and it didn't bother him when I had to hold on to his neck while we ducked under the branches. He was very pleased with it all and had a great time.
'Kitten' meanwhile was not all that sure but decided to tag along. I too loved that bit in the woods just as much as 'Mr F'.
There were narrow passages, there were tree roots and big rocks, there was mud and big puddles, and 'Mr F' really loved it all! He was very clever with placing his feet so that he didn't slip and slide around and it didn't bother him when I had to hold on to his neck while we ducked under the branches. He was very pleased with it all and had a great time.
'Kitten' meanwhile was not all that sure but decided to tag along. I too loved that bit in the woods just as much as 'Mr F'.
The last bit of the ride was a long uphill bit of old road and when we reached the top, 'Kitten' was getting a little tired. 'Mr F' on the other hand was still full of it and marched on, keenly observing anything.
In total it was about 5 miles and it took us about 2 hours ... including fiddling around with gates without dismounting (it was so muddy!). All good exercises for both horse and rider. It was a very leisurely ride, lots of walking and a little trotting but plenty of exploring.
Loading up went well, although 'Kitten' had to think about it a little harder.
The trip home went well too, not too much traffic. Surprisingly, 'Mr F' wasn't sweating on the way home, in fact he had dried out by the time we arrived.
He was certainly pleased with himself and I was pleased too.
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