Second Trail Ride with Buckshot

We are having a stretch of very nice weather so we decided to take advantage of it and go riding after work was done at Upper Pond Stables. Today Meagan was able to join us so Brooke trailered her horse, Scarlett, over to my house and we rode from there. Scarlett is a lovely leopard spot Appy mare. I didn't know how long we could ride as I don't know yet how much the new mule, Shots, can handle. Hoof boots are working wonderful on him so his feet are comfortable. But, his right front pastern with the ringbone gives him some trouble. So, we decided to just head out and see how he did. To top it off he is quite out of shape. But, Shots did better than I expected. We had to keep it mostly to a walk, but at the walk, he seems very comfortable and very happy to be out on the trail. So, we were able to do the entire alpaca farm loop. Meagan has really never done any trail riding so this was a fun new experience for her. The stream crossing just before coming out onto the Academy Road gave Meagan a little bit of a scare. It's a very safe crossing but there is a short steep drop down to the stream and a very short steep climb back out the other side. The footing is very good so it looks much scarier than it is. Meagan wanted to dismount at first but her mare is an experienced trail horse and we talked Meagan into riding through. Scarlett came though nice and easy and they did great! Shots didn't even hesitate and crossed like a pro. The alpaca farm is for sale and the alpaca are all gone so we didn't have that challenge to face with the Scarlett and Shots. Where we go back onto the trail by the highway garage, Shots didn't like the look of the concrete barriers at the start of the trail you have to walk between. He would have gone but Scarlett, good girl that she is, walked right ahead of him and led the way through. The only place Shots really fussed about was at one of the snowmobile bridges. It is not safe to cross with equines but looks fine to them. We cross the stream beside the bridge which looks funky, but is actually very safe. Brooke had a hard time convincing Shots that he needed to step down into the muddy looking water instead of crossing what looked to him to be a perfectly good bridge. I had to come back across with Luke and encourage him in. Once he stepped in, he crossed quietly even though he thought it was a stupid idea. Shots lead quite a bit of the way on going home but he did not get rushy. He was really very, very good. Brooke and I were very pleased with how he'd done. It was a great ride, if a bit slow.