Luke and Louie in Pittston

Today Louie got to go riding with Luke. Our schedules aligned and a group of us met at Lorax in Pittston to ride. Andrea with Louie, me with Luke, Bonnie with her mule Dolly, Kathie came and she had her granddaughter also who was riding her pony mule Blossom. So, there were 4 mules all in one place at the same time! Yahooooo! Linda also joined us riding Gus as well as Diane and her daughter who has a new horse and it was only their second trail ride. This was only Andrea's 2nd ride on Louie also.

The boys loaded up well and we arrived on time. When Louie first got out of the trailer, he saw all the horses and lost his head just for a moment but quieted right down once tied up. This is the first time's he's been out in a while. We took our time grooming and tacking up. We had to fit a saddle and bit to Louie. Andrea bought Bonnie's SE mule saddle. Kathie had her dog alone and that critter is nearly as big as an antelope! Right after Andrea and I got mounted, the dog came bursting out of the brush and spooked both our mules. Luke mostly just jumped sideways a little. The dog came out behind Louie and Louie bolted forward. Andrea was able to stop him right away so it was no problem.  We had a very nice ride. Louie was a bit anxious at first and walking out fast. Andrea did great with him and held him back where she wanted him. Eventually, he relaxed, dropped his head and there was some ear flopping. After about 1 1/2 hours, Andrea and I split from the group as they were going slow and Andrea wanted a chance to try Louie out at the trot and canter. The Lorax trails are lovely and you can move right along on them. Once again Andrea did great. Louie got a little excited when we first sped things up but Andrea handled him perfectly and settled him right down and he did some nice trots and canters for her with real nice transitions. We eventually joined back up with Linda and Bonnie and rode back to the trailers. Luke was wonderful and I had a great ride. I think Andrea had a good time too. I wish I hadn't left my camera in the truck!