Today I made plans to ride with Susie. She came to my house and we discussed where we wanted to ride. We've had a lot of rain lately and didn't want to be wading though too much mud. And she said when she rode in Phippsburg the other day, the deer fly were horrible. So, we considered staying out of the woods and riding somewhere with more dirt roads. In the end, we decided to not venture off too far as it was a work day for me. We decided to ride from the Litchfield fairgrounds and stay in the woods as it was a warm and slightly humid day and the shade would be nice and we would just deal with the deer fly as best we could. We were both armed with our horse hair fly whisks. When Susie got to my house, she came out back with me while I got Luke. As soon as she stepped into the paddock, Louie mule was all over her looking for love and attention. Poor by, he is feeling a bit put out by the lack of attention lately.
This was the first time Luke has been in Susie's trailer. Her trailer is a step-up and it's quite high. This bothers some equines but Luke wasn't bothered at all and jumped right in. We parked in the shade along the side of the road at the fairgrounds. The deer fly were not bad at all much to our delight. Oh, there were plenty of them but not enough to make the ride unpleasant. Susie's was riding her horse Bayzen and both he and Luke quickly realized what the fly whisks were for and seemed to appreciate them. Luke seemed thrilled to be out and was eager and very forward. We rode out as far as we could until we came to an old snowmobile bridge in a swampy area that is not safe to cross. I was surprised that it had not been fixed over the winter as it is not even safe for snowmobiles. Then we noticed a new trail and thought that maybe it was a new way around this spot and that was why the bridge had not been fixed. Well, this turned out to be true. There was a new trail and a new bridge. Unfortunately, the new bridge was not at all equine safe. DARN! And it was too muddy to go around. So we turned and headed back. We came across some fresh horse tracks and followed them for a little while on an unfamiliar trail. But, the led to a spot where there has been lumbering going on and we couldn't follow them. We bushwhacked around trying to find a way through to no avail. Luke was such a good boy though, he was a happy crashing around through the thick woods and he was on good clear trail. He just goes where ever you point him. At one point we got separated and we were both pleased that neither Luke or Bayzen got worried about it and were quite and well behaved.
Once back at the trailer, we decided to make one more short loop on the other side of the road that we've often done. Not a long ride but a very pretty little trail. We crossed a field and entered the trail and not far in the trail was blocked and had a big sign stating "private trail NO HORSES". Hummmmm, I was riding a mule.........not a horse........ darn people and their selfishness. We've been using this trail for many years. It's all on dry ground, it is not though any one's yard or anything, just though a section of woods. Sigh. So, we turned and went back. Once back at the trailer, we gave Luke and Bayzen some carrots and sponged them off with cool water. We checked both of their pulses. I need to learn what Luke's resting rate is and what is normal for him. I don't think he has the naturally low pulse that both Ruby and Louie have. This will make competing him in CTR's a bit trickier but not really a problem as long as I know what is normal for him. Marie doesn't have a naturally low pulse either and it just takes a bit more management at competitions. Luke was not sweaty nor was he breathing hard at all and seems to have good stamina. Especially when you consider his breeding. Luke and Bayzen were wonderful and it was a fun ride as all rides are with Susie.
Luke of course had a good long roll as soon as we got home. And today I noticed that my first barn babies of the new barn are out of the nest and getting ready to test their wings.
Luke's first priority after a ride, a good roll in the dirt
Luke slaying a fly on his back with deadly accuracy of his tail
The first barn babies of my new barn getting ready to leave the nest.
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