rollin with it

True to my promise, Charlie and I had a really quiet and relaxing weekend riding-wise. As much as I would prefer to focus on regaining lost ground after all the time off.... it's pretty hard to argue with taking advantage of gorgeous fall weather by hacking out all across the property and woods.

entering into the woods!

So poor sourpuss Charlie got his wishes granted and earned a reprieve from the sandbox. Tho I did make him just canter around the jump ring a couple times in a freewheeling lope, for funsies. While it took a minute to achieve the canter, and then another moment to convince him that, yes we would canter past the gate plz, he more or less just rolled with it. Sigh.

surprisingly deep little stream really makes charlie use his noggin lol

That's cool tho. At least Charlie is a pretty freakin wonderful horse to hack out - and is surprisingly not at all barn sour (or at least, hasn't shown that inclination yet lol) considering how gate sour he is in our arenas. This makes him a nice pleasant horse to stroll out around the property with, either alone or with company.

galloping lane! or.... canter-pretty-fast lane lol

He gets pretty distracted by seeing horses out in the fields and has to stare very intently at them even as we keep on walking. But that's fine. So long as he doesn't fall on his face lol. Tho when we trail ride with friends he doesn't seem quite so forlorn about horses in the pastures haha.

sooooo many leaves on the ground - they create quite the sound track to our travels - esp with all the nearby squirrels who crash through the leaves like elephants

I don't really know the trails through the woods super well yet, and it's kinda hard this time of year when everything looks the same and trails are covered by leaves. Mostly tho it's not so extensive of a property that it's hard to get lost. There are only a few main trails -- a shorter path that skirts the pastures and a longer loop that goes all the way around the woods.

the open fields provide a quiet and serene counterpoint to all that noise lol

There's only really one stream crossing, if you don't count all the little rivulets that separate the various cross country fields from each other. Charlie's gotten pretty reliable about the stream but is still funny about the rivulets. Two out of three times, he'll just walk right on through. That third time tho? He's gotta jump it. #horselogic #keepsmeguessing #grabmanenomatterwhat

tho naturally the dogs did their part by entertaining us with a splashfest

The trails themselves are very simple. Typically relatively broad - can fit two horses side by side in places. Mostly smooth, with the occasional eroded or rocky spot. Not particularly challenging nor hilly - tho there are some fun spots with a little extra technicality. Mostly they're well suited to a somewhat clumsy and inattentive horse like Charlie, haha.

these dogs have way too much fun lol

There are even a couple places perfect for a little speed! Like a nice lane in between pastures that we "galloped" as a group during one recent ride. I say "gallop" bc it was more like just a canter for Charlie, but that's fine haha. He was very polite about it all the same tho.

It's just crazy sometimes running him bc his head and neck are SO LONG and being a career race horse, he's very quick to settle into that form of really using his head and neck at speed - the oscillation is intense. I'm honestly still kinda figuring out what length rein I need and where to keep my hands and body to stay in a more effective position. Actually it was during this ride that I realized that must be my main issue with maintaining a solid galloping position while riding this horse xc. Given my t-rex arms, I probably need to keep my whole body farther forward than I have really wanted to. Good food for thought!

i think the horses enjoyed themselves too tho ;)

Anyway tho, there's enough trails and lanes and paths back to the barn that you can easily squeak in a 15-20min hack or a 2hr ride, whatever suits your mood. Esp with all the cross country fields it's easy to just loop and wander all around.

When I'm riding alone I still have to dismount for basically all the gates. Charlie has finally learned how to ace one important gate - the one we use most often. It's easier bc there's no latch, it just rests on the ground and doesn't swing very much. So he's got it figured out how to open and close that one.

Another couple I can open from his back, but can't close. Either bc the gate swings too far or the latch is too fussy. And some I can't do at all bc the latch is too low to even reach. Luckily Charlie proves again and again that he's polite to sidle up to an xc jump or random log for me to remount.

So ya know. All this hacking out has been productive in its own right. Especially just by nature of being a really pleasant way to engage my horse's mind and body. Hopefully tho we can get to the bottom of some of his recent sourness and figure out a sustainable schooling schedule. Methinks everything will be much more fun when he can jump again lol. Soon, buddy!