Archived Posts

Date: Sat Jun 14, 2003 6:17 pm
Subject: just had a great trail ride!

Just wanted to share. Took Shyner out for a 4 hour ride, probably did about 20 miles (or more -- that's going on a conservative estimate of our average speed). He was a GOOD boy! And, even though we were entirely on trails we've ridden before, he got all kinds of new experiences today.

It seems that many families have discovered there are places along the river that they can get to on foot & go swimming. So, we not only saw lots of kids splashing around during our river crossings (he's seen that before), but he got to dodge beach chairs, toys & blankets. One family had spread their blanket out *across* the horse trail, leaving about a foot wide trail with their toys & stuff on one side & their kids on the blanket on the other side. Shyner didn't step on anything or anyone. ;) We crossed a bridge with kids splashing underneath it -- that was a new experience (like trolls?) -- he was VERY good, even with the screams of "caballo!" and "horsey!" as we went over. (That bridge usually freaks me out more than the horse as it's got no railings & it's a good 5-6 foot drop into the river.) At one point I stopped him to let some little girls pet him, and were instantly *surrounded* by kids. He was wonderful while they petted and patted. And he managed not to step on any little bare toes! :) Interestingly, unlike Phlyrt who puts her head down for kids to pet, he preferred not to look at them at all and let them pet his neck, body, and legs instead.

We also discovered that not only are there coyotes in the riverbed (seen them plenty of times), but there are also wild pigs. That shocked me more than him, I think. The pigs were small and quickly ran when we walked toward them -- we could hear the rustling in the bushes and I hurried Shyner along hoping that mommy pig wasn't planning on coming after us.

We also traveled through a herd of sheep. Another surprise for me. They were in an area that is totally NOT fenced and could have walked into residential areas or out onto a busy road not too far away. The ram was looking at us funny, but I was more worried about the Anatolian Shepherd-type dog that was in with them; the dog didn't care about us at all, luckily. :)

Anyway, I just wanted to share. It was a fabulous ride, and Shyner's finally learning to rate himself (ie. trot & canter on a loose rein w/o me having to constantly check his speed). He had LOTS left even after 4 hours, but as usual I was wiped out!

I've been carrying a disposable camera around in my saddle bag for many months and pulled it out a couple times. So, hopefully I got some photos of pigs, sheep, and the giant reed grass "bamboo tunnels" since they are so unique and I've never taken photos of them even though I ride them all the time.

~Nicole