Arthur Hits the Trails!

Today I was fortunate enough to have the pleasure of taking my friend Mary-Jo and her horse Arthur out trail riding. Arthur is a young Mustang that has not been exposed to much trail riding in his life. He's a dressage "Prince". We decided to ride from my house and Mary-Jo arrived just a little after 10:00 am. It was a lovely day out being sunny and in the 70's with a nice breeze. Perfect for riding. Before unloading Arthur, I gave Mary-Jo a tour of my new barn as she's never been to my house before. We then tacked up and headed out. Luke took the lead being the big brave experienced trail mule that he is. He would be a good mentor to Arthur. About 1/2 mile out from my house we came to our first water crossing. It is a good crossing in that there is no mud and it is a level approach and exit. But, the stream is just narrow enough for the equine reluctant to wet their feet to think about jumping. And it's just wide enough to make that jump a big one. Arthur was not happy about crossing at all. There are no stream crossings in a dressage arena! Mary-Jo got off and led him across. Arthur was still not impressed but he did follow Mary-Jo across.

Mary-Jo getting Arthur ready to ride



Marie not happy about being left behind

We then went up a longish hill and Arthur really thought that was a bit much. He stopped a few times and then he decided that being out in the woods was an all you can eat buffet and started trying to wander off the trail to sample all the delightful greenery. Once he realized that Luke was going straight down the trail, he thought maybe he should follow. Not that Luke isn't pretty dedicated to defoliating the forest, we have simply come to the compromise that he can only grab was presents itself in front of his face ON the trail. We went through many more water spots on the trail and Arthur continued to think this was a ridiculous thing for a dressage horse to be asked to do but he gradually got better about it. Mary-Jo did get off a couple more times to lead him through a few troublesome spots.



Mary-Jo telling Arthur he's a good boy

We came to a scary looking stream crossing. It is very safe as the footing is very firm and good. But, there is a short steep drop into the stream and a short steep climb out on the other side. Luke, having done it many times trooped right through. Mary-Jo was already dismounted so decided to just lead Arthur through. He did look it all over carefully but then negotiated his way across very nicely. We came up onto the Academy road which is a paved road. We had to ride approximately 1/2 mile down this road to get back onto the trail. This road leads us right by an alpaca farm. A very scary spot for equines that are not used to it as the alpaca are on both sides of the road and the fencing comes very close to the road. Mary-Jo decided to lead Arthur through this spot as she did not know if he's ever seen alpaca before. And don't you know that today, the alpaca were very interested in us and jumped up and ran to the fence to check us out. Arthur did great. We was slightly concerned but more curious. After taking a good look at them and deciding they would not eat a horse, he was ready to move on.



Approaching the aliens





Arthur wondering what kind of aliens he's looking at

 

The aliens, aka alpacas



When we went back onto trail off the paved road, we had to go through a spot that is meadow-like and the ground is a bit soft. Arthur had a bit of a temper tantrum here but Mary-Jo did a great job and pushed him through both the tantrum and the area he didn't want to go through and it was then that something seemed to click with Arthur. He suddenly seemed to decide maybe he could be a trail horse after all and maybe it was fun! From then on for the rest of the ride he did just wonderful. He crossed water and mud with little hesitation and on a loose rein. We did a little bit of trotting. Once Arthur got a little too enthusiastic about it but nothing serious. Towards the end of the ride, he even took the lead, and even lead the way across a stream like a pro! I think the ride was a little longer and harder than Mary-Jo expected but in the end I think she was glad of the challenges and lessons learned for Arthur. I was proud of Mary-Jo and her wonderful boy Arthur! And I was proud of Luke for setting a good example and being a good mentor!



Wild Iris I spotted along the trail





Mary-Jo on Arthur coming through the tall grass