A Little Hill Work

Susie, Linda and I were trying to coordinate riding together today. Susie was available all day. But both Linda and I had time constraints that didn't synchronize well. Linda had from 9:30 am to 3:00 pm. I had to work at Upper Pond in the morning and then I had an appointment to get my car inspected at 10:30 am. So, Susie decided to ride her horse Dixie in the morning with Linda and then ride Bayzen with me in the afternoon. I called my friend Amy Beem to see if she might be free to ride in the afternoon. She was!! Yippee. So, Susie and I decided to go up to Palmyra and ride with her.

I met Susie at the Exit 46 Quick Stop at 1:00 pm and we trailer pooled in Susie's rig from there. We got to Amy's around 2:00. She had just gotten home from a hay delivery and was grabbing a quick bite to eat. From her house, we went over to Judy Mcpheters house and parked. Judy was waiting for her farrier so told us to head out and she would meet us on the trail after her farrier left. Another friend, Carole Norton would be with her. We tied Bayzen and Luke on the same side of the trailer and Bayzen crabbed at Luke. At the start of the ride we had a mile or so of road riding before coming to the trail. Luke was full of energy and took the lead doing is power walk. That was until we came to some red barrels at the end of someones driveway. Luke froze for a moment, then when I asked him to walk by, he did a "lock and load jaw move" as his owner, Kyle, calls it. Luke turned around and walked a few feet away and I could not stop it. Once the others walked by though, he was fine and quickly moved to the lead again. Big chicken! The section of trail we rode though was not bad. There is still spots of snow and ice in the woods. It was warm enough that the ice was all soft and was not slippery. Susie has winter shoes on Bayzen. Amy has regular shoes on Washburn and Luke is still barefoot. None of them were slipping. It was a little tricky though as there were spots they would break through the ice. Again, it was soft and they didn't drop far but just made for weird footing. Once through the trail, we were then on some lovely dirt roads with some nice hills. I wondered how Luke would handle hill work as we've been on flat ground all winter riding in the arena or at the beach. Luke handled the hills with ease powering right up them with plenty of energy. We did some nice long trots on the dirt roads. We didn't really do any cantering as Susie's Bayzen was getting excited and doing a bit of bucking. We were trotting along at one point with Susie and Amy just in front of me, when a dog on a leash surprised them all moving around behind some brush. Luke put on the breaks hard. Bayzen and Washburn put on the breaks too but both threw in a spin also. Both Susie and Amy teetered to the side for a moment but both managed to stay in the saddle. It was some good riding on both of their parts.

On the way back, just as we got back to where the woods trail was, we met Judy and Carole. We decided on riding back to Judy's by way of the road rather then going back through the woods. The distance was longer going back by road but we could travel along much faster making it the quicker route. Not that we wanted to end our ride, but it was getting late and we didn't want to get caught out after dark. We had a nice long stretch of riding along a dirt road and got in some more nice long trots. Luke continued to move along with a lot of energy. Bayzen continued to get over excited and sneak in a few bucks when he could get away with it. Amy's Washburn was a little excited also and wanted to do some jigging. Ah, the joys of spring riding! We then had a mile or so of riding along a busy road to get back to Judy's house. The road had a nice wide shoulder so was fine for riding on. We did have a truck go by us that had a round bale in the bed wrapped in white plastic. The plastic was flapping and that startled Luke. He did a little dance in place which in turn spooked Bayzen who jumped sideways. Nothing serious though and we got back to Judy's house safely and happy from such a nice ride. We were out for 3 1/2 hours so it was a very good ride and I feel much better about Luke being ready for our first CTR in early May.

Beach Ride After the Storm

I was all ready to get into trail riding mode when yet another winter storm dumped nearly a foot of snow on us Tuesday! I was NOT happy about this. Susie and I knew we wanted to do something for a ride today but couldn't decide just what to do. I worked at Upper Pond this morning and I called Susie as I was heading home. The forecast was for a cloudy day and possible snow flurries. And it was cold this morning. Susie was on the fence about riding at all but the sky was getting brighter and it was warming up so I talked her into riding by offering to pick her up. We considered just staying near home and going to either Brown's Point in Bowdoinham or riding over in Richmond on the dirt roads by the dump. Then Susie mentioned that low tide for the beach was at 2:40 PM. It told her that I would be happy to trailer us to the beach. Then the decision of Popham or Old Orchard Beach. After more discussion we decided on Old Orchard Beach. I figured since I'd paid to get a permit to ride there, I wanted to make some use of it. And that beach is always the same with much of it reliably having good solid packed sand below the tide line. And it's a 7 mile stretch of beach so makes for some decent mileage. Popham changes often and you never know quite what the beach will be like. 

When I got home, I fed the mules and Marie, cleaned the barn and then grabbed a quick bite to eat. We have not plowed our driveway from the storm but I was quite sure I'd get the trailer out as it's downhill to the road. I hooked up and pulled the trailer down to the end of the driveway. I wanted to make sure I could get down safely before loading Luke. When I went up to get Luke, he seemed eager to go and off we went to pick up Susie. We got to the beach by 1:00 PM and it was turning out to be a lovely day. The sun had come out and there was no wind and it was very comfortable. We quickly saddled up and were on our way. There was another trailer there and it was a harness racer. There were some people at that trailer and one woman recognized Luke as we had met last time I came to Old Orchard Beach. 

I thought Luke would be a bit silly as I haven't done much with him for the past week. And he was forward but quite relaxed and really seemed happy to be out. Much to our surprise, the beach was not nearly as good as it always is. There must have been a really strong storm surge. The beach near the parking lot was very pebbly and the footing was quite soft. It did firm up after a bit and we got in a nice long trot and canter. Neither Bayzen or Luke made any fuss about going under the pier. But once on that side of the beach, the sad got soft again and we had to slow down. Neither one of us want to risk any pulled tendons or such with our first competition coming up in May. Even though Luke was very relaxed today, he still viewed the seagulls with suspicion. I think it's so funny that a mule that lives with guinea hens can find seagulls worrisome. Both boys crossed the river with no fuss also. There were a few more spots where the sand was firm enough for more trotting but overall, it was soft and we kept it to a walk in the soft areas. Luke had to warn off multiple dogs today. There are a few dog owners that should be thankful that Luke is such a good boy with dogs as he had to lift a foot at several that came right up behind him. Many mules would not put up with that. Something boogered Bayzen on the way back and he was a bit wired for a while. And he did a few quick spooks but Susie handled it all just fine as usual. After crossing under the pier again, we asked them to walk through the waves which were very small here and for once Luke did not make a fuss about it. He wasn't excited about going into the waves and I had to keep pressure on him to keep him in but only light pressure and he stayed soft and responsive. It was fun! Well, for me anyway, Luke only did it to amuse me. 

Even though we rode slower overall than we usually do, the boys still got a good workout walking through the softer than usual sand. Once back the the trailer, we untacked them, and as a treat, we led them back down to the beach to let them roll. Luke was a happy boy about that. He rolled, rolled again, then rolled a third and even a fourth time. Even Bayzen took a good roll. As usual, it was a wonderful ride!

Still Plugging Along

Well, I haven't recorded any Luke adventures in a while. Luke and I have been fairly busy, just seems like I'm stuck in the sand and can't get going in any particular direction. I had hoped to do a dressage show in April. I've had a lot of lessons cancelled and knew I'd need to really step up the work to get ready. An opening came up at Upper Pond Stable for 4 weeks and I decided to move Luke over there so I could really work at it.

I moved Luke over on Tuesday, March 5th. I brought him over with me when I went to work. I was not sure who Karen wanted him turned out with so I left him on the trailer while I fed the horses and while we turned everyone out. It was so funny as Luke was talking to every horse we led out of the barn, which startled a few of them. AMX took it quite well though and he's the one that's been so scared of the mules. Karen had decided to turn Luke out with Jewell and Beau in the cross country field. Luke had already met theses two horses when I've turned him out in the outdoor arena. They have often visited with each other over the fence and seemed friendly. And it's a large pasture so would be nice for Luke. When I put Luke out with them, it was pretty uneventful. Jewell is a Clydsdale/Thoroughbred cross and she makes Luke look small! It was cute on Friday morning as little Lilly, a mini mare in the stall next to Luke, was staring through a crack between the boards and squealing at Luke.

Luke settled into the routine at the stable very easily. The first evening I came to ride him, having gotten out of work early, there were quite a few people there. Karen said each time I walked away from Luke, he nickered for me. How sweet. The arena was busy. Maura McHugh and her daughter Meri were there. They had just finished riding. There was a lesson being given to a little girl on Letty, a wonderful Fell pony. Cierra was riding her horse, Tink also. I rode Luke for a bit, then asked Meri if she wanted to take him for a spin. She was happy to do so and rode him for a while. She did very well with him though I could see he was testing her just a bit. While Meri rode, I had the chance to visit with Maura as well as Cierra's mother, Pam. After Meri got off, I rode just a little bit longer

My lesson was once again cancelled on Thursday. I was not feeling that well in the morning anyway so didn't ride until later that evening. Then I rode one afternoon outside. I was very pleased that when I went to get Luke in that big pasture, he came right to me. Good Luke! I headed out on the trails behind the barn. The snow was still a bit deep on the road out towards the pond but there wasn't much snow in most places. Luke was on high alert and a bit jumpy but didn't do anything bad. After my couple circuits around the pond, I rode back towards the stable but then on out towards the road and made that loop. I passed Tasha being led by her owner down the stable driveway. When I got back to the barn, there was a couple there with a little girl. Luke was still a bit prancy and alert so looking quite impressive I'm sure. The woman asked me what Luke was. I told her he was a mule. She said she had noticed the ears but had never seen a mule that looked so "regal". They came over and pat Luke which he soaked right up.

When my next lesson was cancelled yet again, I decided that I was not going to attempt to do the dressage show. I can fake a lot of things, but being a dressage rider is not one of them. So, I decided to bring Luke back home. I had missed him anyway. I now needed to concentrate on getting him ready for our first CTR of this season. Susie and I are going to the Leverett 25 in western MA. on May 4th. I'm really excited about this. I have never done this ride. Susie has and said it was a nice one.

This past weekend was very cold and I totally wimped out on riding. But, I'll get back at it tomorrow. If it's still cold, I'll just take Luke over to Upper Pond and ride.