sweet air adventures

Finally. FINALLY. We had a glorious weekend weather-wise (as further evidenced from the fantastic conditions during our jump lesson) and managed to drag Brita and Bella out on their first off-property adventure together!!!!!

perfect trail conditions!

(I say "drag" but what I really mean is that Brita handled all the planning and logistics and sandwiches and whatnot and Charlie and I simply rolled up with the chariot, ready to go!)

introducing the newest power couple #bay&gray

You may remember from early December when Brita and I first practiced trailer loading with Bella and Charlie together in anticipation for our first big outing. Alas, the originally planned outing (the Stephen Birchall clinic) got scrambled bc of the big ice storm... and while Charlie and I could reschedule, Brita could not.

charlie thinks bella's hay > his hay. also i kinda love how both horses are making moon eyes at brita lol

So we had to delay our eventual 'first play date' for a bit longer than intended. No matter tho! It's no secret that Brita and I are both pretty big fans of getting a lot of experience traveling with our horses before we attempt potentially higher-stress (or expensive) outings like competitions.

the cotner only has one hook on either side for tying a horse. these guys didn't seem to mind the separation tho - they could see each other through the doors of the main cabin. convenient!

Being familiar with the trailer and how each individual horse handles the travel is our way of reducing anxiety of the 'unknown' - and over the years we've developed a pretty solid routine. It was nice to see that this hasn't changed despite each boarding at different barns now, with two new equestrian partners and a new trailer on top of it all. The pattern still holds!

bella is so freakin cute tho

It helps that Brita's new lease mare Bella already has a bit of worldly experience despite her youth. We pretty much expected she would travel just fine, and we were not disappointed. Both horses came off the trailer calm relaxed and quiet. Yesss!

there's something so scenic about wintry woods

Anyway - our destination du jour was new to both of us, sorta: the Sweet Air Area of Maryland's gigantic Gunpowder State Park. Fun fact: this park stretches across enormous swaths of the state, and has "areas" of various sizes dotting the landscape from east to west, and north to south. In fact, Isabel's farm was also located on an 'area' of this park - thus our access to tons of wonderful trails.

"i'm on a horse!!" - emma

We had incidentally ridden on parts of this area's trails back in 2015 at our first paper chase at Tranquility (which backs up to the park). At that time we had ridden past the parking area and through some fantastic trails (including a perfect galloping path adjacent to a corn field), so we figured it would be a great place to revisit.

between the ears pics all look the same.... but i <3 them anyway ;)

And it was actually pretty damn perfect. We had googled the location and parking info ahead of time, and I found a couple comments along the way saying things like "well marked" and "well maintained" trails. Plus I've heard lots of positive things about the area previously from other friends. This was sufficient enough information to make up our minds (especially given the area's proximity to OF - what a SUPER easy drive!) so off we went.

friends!!

We hopped aboard and checked out the area map - identifying that we'd like to stick to the two yellow loops: the pine loop (twas piney!) and the pond loop (was mysteriously lacking in ponds!).

more friends!!

Pine loop came first. The trails were broad, smooth, not at all rocky, and often allowed for the horses to travel side-by-side. The horses, incidentally, seemed quite happy with each other's company, and neither cared much about being in front or behind.

of note: many pines

This first loop would prove to be a barometer for the ride - as we ended up coming through this same section later to get home. Towards the end of the loop there were a couple of downed branches - including one innocuous woodpecker-riddled log that Charlie was not able to lead the way over, but managed to awkwardly hop following Bella's lead.

Then there was some bushwhacking needed when we had to redirect around larger fallen logs. Just plain viney brambly things - but the shrub was thick and chest-high on Charlie, and he was not very confident about just pushing through it. He did after some convincing tho, good boy!

opening onto the corn fields!

We then cut across to the pond loop - which took us around the same corn fields from the 2015 paper chase. There are two types of ground that I LOVE: lanes surrounding pasture fences, and lanes surrounding agricultural fields. And I love them for the same reason. The ground may undulate up and down, and may sometimes be boggy or wet in areas. But, generally, as a rule, these lanes are always smooth, of consistent width, and perfect for some speed.

charlie definitely wanted to treat bella like a pony on the track haha

So naturally Brita and I opted to trot around the corn field. That might sound.... tame haha, and I guess it was. But I'm kinda a chicken about doing new fast things with horses, and Charlie hadn't been the most reliable horse on terrain haha. The trot was perfect tho - these lanes are nice and smooth (compared to the occasional lumpiness of your typical pasture) and Charlie happily jogged on up (and DOWN!!!!!!) the hills while I basically just bridge the reins, took video, and giggled lol.

Upon reaching the other side of the field, we realized we were nearly back to the parking area... So, naturally we did what anyone would do in similar circumstances: turned around to go back the way we had come. Including back up this same lane, but this time cantering instead of trotting :)

<3 these horses tho

No video from the cantering bc I actually did hold my reins haha. But it was spectacular. Just.... ahhh, so good! Charlie was basically just loping along. Didn't trip or misstep once - good boy! He asked twice about whether he needed to be racing when Bella got ahead of him (we mostly were cantering abreast) but was nonchalant when I said 'nope we're just cruisin buddy!'

it's a bridge!!

What a good feeling! I'm so glad we did that too - I had kinda regretted not trying for a canter on our last trail outing but sometimes it just takes me a little while to warm up to things lol. But I'm very happy to report that Charlie successfully trotted AND cantered both up AND down hills. That "down" being of particular significance. Homeboy is definitely figuring out his balance and his feet!

And he felt equal to whatever he faced after the canter. Including a wooden bridge on a yellow trail spur we took to get back to the pine loop. Honestly I don't think Charlie even registered the bridge - he just stepped right on up. And then immediately jolted ever so slightly through his body upon hearing the odd sound of his footfall on the bridge lol... but then just kept going. 

this is what i looked like after cantering this boy across the field: joyous ;)

Once back on the pine loop we were faced with the same brambles and fallen logs that had slowed us down earlier while Charlie processed it all. This second time through? Exactly zero hesitation. Including getting around an even larger treefall with even more serious bushwhacking - Charlie took the lead of charging through the brush with a zeal that had definitely not been present at the start of our ride.

it's a proven fact: charlie's nose is supremely smoochable

That just felt like a win - it was clear that both horses had grown (remarkably) in confidence throughout the ride. Both were tackling whatever fell in their path with gusto! I was particularly pleased with Charlie bc he really seemed to come into his own body throughout the ride. Very little tripping, very few feelings of awkwardness on the terrain. Mission accomplished!

going home. until next time!!

Brita and I both loved the park too - and definitely plan to return, hopefully often. Sorry if it sounds like I'm gushing haha. Really, tho, what's not to love? I mean, obviously we both have goals for riding, we both are investing in our training and are eager to get to competitions and progress and all that. But rides like this are maybe just as, if not more, important to our ultimate horsey goals.

Especially leaving the park with horses and riders who were demonstrably more confident than they had been before the ride.... ahh it just felt good!

You know what I'm talking about? Have you had a ride like that? Or do you have preferred ways for testing the waters for your horses, for laying the foundation for an upcoming competition season? Do you measure the success of your conditioning as just physical, emotional, or both?