Riley's best day ever

Riley, of course, being Brita's golden retriever puppy. And it was her best day ever bc this puppy just loooooves water and mud. Both of which were plentiful when Brita and I (and Bella and Charlie) bundled up in a few extra layers to hit the trails (finally) at OF.

this angle makes it almost look like that quarter sheet fits him haha

And what follows is totally and completely unapologetic photo spam. Alas we can't claim to have captured any of the grandeur of fall foliage (like when I had Bali out through these fields last year, right before breaking my leg lol). But the dreary drizzling gray weather is sorta kinda charming in its own kinda way, right?

no joke, this puppy LOVES puddles. that coat was 100% powerless against her intense need to slither across the ground like an otter

Poor Charlie. Guys. This horse desperately needs to hack out more often. He's such a natural at it!! I had actually initially felt a little guilty stuffing him onto the trailer for this outing, bc it's been our impression that homeboy doesn't really love being exposed to the wetter elements....

brita and bella!

But my overwhelming need to get out of the arena for a longer ride beat out my sympathies for Charlie's perceived delicate constitution. So I borrowed a fleecy quarter sheet and told him that his vocab word du jour was forbearance.

how i love these fields <3

My concern for Charlie's potential discomfort was entirely misplaced tho. He was immediately right at home out in the fields. Easily out-walked Bella with his long long legs, despite sticking to a relaxed amble. Happily turned us through gates here, and trail heads there.

At one point I actually only half-jokingly asked Charlie if he had been here before in another life haha. He seemed to know his way around!

blurry selfies > no selfies

I mean. Obvi the rain was kinda a nuisance and it was slightly cold... But it was exactly what I needed. And maybe Charlie too.

it was obviously EXACTLY what riley needed haha

I've read and heard a lot about what long slow hack miles can do for a horse still letting down from the track and rebuilding their muscles in a new way. Plus Charlie has a lot to learn about terrain in general. Ground that slopes up and down and all around is still relatively new to him - especially while under saddle.

bella handled all the gates for us like a total pro, tho charlie was quite happy to wait patiently for her

And it turns out, unlike Riley, Charlie's not fantastically fond of mud or puddles. I already knew this from past lessons when he avoided walking through puddles in the arena.... But this'll need to be addressed if he has any hope of being an event horse. Hacks across nasty ground are the perfect setting to let him figure that out for himself tho, without me needing to force the issue.

cross country jumps!!!!!!!!!!!

Plus I obviously had to take every opportunity to point out all the fences that I had jumped with other horses. From some of the novice stuff with Isabel, even to the BN/intro stuff I did with that little pony Krimpet last summer haha (my last time schooling xc, sob).

The idea of jumping Charlie over anything of any size right now is borderline unfathomable bc of his awkward "OMG LEGS EVERYWHERE" style haha... But if Krimpet can do it, he sure as shit can too.

water water! i spy water!

We took advantage the water complex too. Alas Charlie proved a bit reluctant so I settled on walking him in and out a couple times (usually with the aid of bold Bella leading the way) instead of actually trying any of the up or down banks like I had wanted. Oh well, there will be plenty of time for that later.

i kinda love the austere landscape of woods in winter

There were more opportunities for low-key, almost-incidental schooling elsewhere too tho. Brita is still learning the woods so we kinda just sniffed around different trails, trying to make the ride last. One fairly narrow path had a steep dip down to a tiny rivulet, then steep climb back up. Total change in height of no more than 4-5 feet. Steep but short.

We ended up doing that twice in a row too, as our trail dead-ended soon after and we turned back around. Charlie led both times, and was a little hesitant about the water both times - but did the thing, and did it more quickly and easily the second time. Good boy. Repetition is definitely his friend!

this farm is so freakin pretty!

And hopefully repetition is in our future. Personally I love trail riding for so many different reasons. Mental breaks for the horse (and rider). Low key strength-building miles. Opportunities to experience wide varieties of terrain and visual landscapes. Oh. Plus Charlie is totally broke to puppies running around every which way now too haha. Bonus!

Rumor has it that there ARE actually trails at Charlie's barn. Modest in length, but enough to get out for 40min if you wanted. Which sounds perfectly sufficient to me! The trick will be finding someone to ride out there with us, as I'm not quite ready to go all solo-expeditioner with the big guy yet, even tho he's been to be totally chill. Hopefully someone will want to go soon tho!