trail riding with Austen, Jen + Brita!! (complete photo spam)

Perhaps you already saw this on Jen's blog, but Brita and I got to go on the most wonderful New Years Eve trail ride with her and Austen while she was in town for the holidays!!!! Thanks so much Austen for inviting us!

It turned into pretty much an all-chestnuts trail ride too, with Pig and Wick holding down the 'matching OTTB gelding' gig. Tho of course Wick wore his xc gear, and Pig was decked out as a dressage superstar (complete with double bridle). But still, it's like they recognized each other lol.

Jen's mount Teddy looked like a lot of fun too - rounding out the 'matching geldings with stars' gig with Wick (while Isabel and Pig held the 'matching blazes' role). Of course I think Isabel was still the smallest member of the party but eh, her big walk makes up for short legs. 

And obvi the huskies were there too - much to poor Wick's chagrin. He kept an eye on them pretty much at all times, and threw these adorable little sideways leaps every time the dogs came running up behind him. Poor baby! Tho he got better as the ride wore on :)

The trails by Austen's barn are incredible and are maintained by an organization called EPIC (Equestrian Partners in Conservation). Most of our route included broad lanes bordering hay fields - almost all of which looked ripe for galloping in the right ground conditions. Tho as evidenced by this somewhat boggy crossing through the treeline from one field to another, the ground was a tad soft for our ride lol.

That didn't stop us from trying in a few spots tho!! Lots of trotting and cantering up hills (and hilariously Isabel actually threw in a small buck during one early canter stint), and jumping a log here or there through tree line. But then we were cantering up another seemingly never ending hill and Isabel just felt so good that I couldn't resist letting her open all the way up into gallop. Ahhhhh what a feeling! :D

Isabel is typically indifferent to whatever nearby horses are doing and has incredibly reliable brakes, so it took me a moment to realize that the other horses were experiencing fits of feelings. Like Wick, who decided Pig was challenging him to a race. Or Teddy who decided that tho he be tiny, he be fast (and strong).

All was well tho - and Austen led us into a more sedate section of wooded trails, where Jen and Austen did some unintentional jumping of their own over various water obstacles lol. 

And the huskies got to swim too!!! Really tho this whole area was so gorgeous! 

Plus this section was perfect for lots of chatting and getting to know each other. Especially interesting was hearing all about how Connor is doing, and how Jen is envisioning how 2016 might play out for them. Sounds like there are some exciting plans on the docket! 

Oh and meanwhile I tried to catch snaps of Austen putting Pig through his fancy dressage moves on the trail (bc obvi he still has to be fancy no matter the venue) but they all came out blurry so instead enjoy this pic of Austen doing the exact opposite and just chillin haha. (While Wick keeps watch on the huskies ahead lol).

Poor guy - he was so deeply skeptical of these two little dogs, who really did nothing but ignore him completely. Eh. He was better by the end :)

Isabel was definitely tiring toward the end of the ride - but not so much that she and Wick didn't noticeably perk up when a line of log jumps presented themselves haha. Really I probably shouldn't jump Isabel in the hackamore since she has very little patience for the curb chain... but whatever, who can resist all those logs?!? Just grab mane and GO! So we hopped over a few, and watched while Wick and Brita hit up this field above to jump around a little more. What fun!

Then suddenly we were all back at the farm! Where I gotta be honest - I got a HUGE kick out of seeing my tiny little stock trailer, exactly the opposite of fancy (and visible in the top left of this pic), at this uber fancy and gorgeous and sprawling dressage farm. 

Tho that 'kick' slowly morphed to mild mortification when Isabel straight up refused, then threatened a melt down about going into the wash stall to get the mud rinsed off her legs. Lol.

Emma: C'mon mare, watch out or they'll all figure out that we're impostors here!!
Isabel: NO.
{Pig: hehehe I found a mare!}

Seriously tho, look at those wash stalls, aren't they gorgeous?!? Warm water and everything, and Wick certainly looked like a gentleman in there. Ugh Isabel. 

Isabel: Can you believe they tried to make me go in there? There was WATER in there for chrissakes!!
Wick: Uh ok whatever, I'm just eating here...

Really tho, wow what a fun ride. Every single second of it! I just wish the farm was closer to home for us and we would go out there all the time!! (Especially bc their arena use fee is actually incredibly reasonable compared to some of the indoors near us...).

It was the perfect outing tho - both our horses were super happy. Especially Izzy, who hadn't really been out for a true trail ride since late summer. But omg they were both SO TIRED by the end. Pretty sure they both fell asleep immediately upon loading into the trailer lol.

Thanks again Austen for inviting us - and it was great meeting you Jen!! And any other bloggers in the area that are ever interested in group trail rides definitely let me know!