Group ride in Phippsburg

11/29/2009
A beautiful day here in Maine for the end of November!! Sunny, hardly any breeze and nearly 50 degrees. A group of us went riding today in Phippsburg. I rode Louie and took Marie down for Barbara to ride. Bonnie took her mule and picked up a friends horse. Linda came with her new horse Gus and someone was riding her old horse. I was all alone when I loaded up today. But, no problem as Louie was very good about loading in my trailer. He did have to think about it for just a moment, but not much more. He did paw a bit once he was in but no big deal. I put the hoof boots on him before loading him to go. What a sweet patient boy he is. At one point when I was pulling a strap tight with a pair of pliers, the pliers slipped off and I fell right under Louie. I grabbed his front legs to stop and pull myself out. That good boy didn’t do a thing. Just watched me with curiosity. He unloaded nicely out of my trailer. I think it is the ramp on Bonnie’s trailer that bothered him. He was very quite to be saddled. More interested in eating his hay then in all the other trailers and horses arriving. The horse that Bonnie had picked up absolutely refused to back out of her trailer. She ended up taking her saddles and racks out to collapse the tack room wall so the could just let the horse turn around to come out.
Louie started out right in the lead as usual. He was just wonderful the whole ride. At times I had him ride in the middle of the pack and then at the end. He was happy as a clam no matter where he was. He still is not thrilled about walking into water but he is just not challenging me much about it. He is trying very hard to do what I want. And he is obviously getting used to the feel of me and how I ride as he is now taking very light signals to cue him for stuff. We had a truck with a flatbed trailer go by us. The flatbed had a large garden shed on it and it was all bumping noisily through the pot holes on the dirt road. Louie didn’t even bat an ear at this. And didn’t even hesitate when I asked him to trot along after it. GOOD BOY!! All in all just another wonderful ride