Exploring in Pittston

Marie is off on yet another adventure. Susie picked her up yesterday evening. She and Barbara are heading to Acadia for the weekend. It's not going to be a very good weekend with rain in the forecast for the whole weekend but I know they will manage to have a good time no matter what. I had Susie bring Cody over to stay while she was gone. I thought that Luke would enjoy having company while Marie was gone. And that Cody too would enjoy not being home alone. Well, I have to say that Luke was less impressed with Cody than I thought he would be. When I got home Friday morning Luke was balling for Marie. Cody seemed content enough though. I've always liked him and it was nice having him greet me at the gate. He was quiet and relaxed and seemed to be making himself right at home.

Linda and I decided to go riding today. The weather forecast for the weekend was looking wet so this was going to be the best day to ride. We decided to ride in Pittston. That turned out to be more complicated then we figured on. Linda picked me and Luke up and on the way over, there was road work being done on both Dead River Rd. and Rt. 197. But, we got through it all and got to Pittston around 10:15 am or so. It was cloudy and cool we headed out. We parked at Lorax but decided to go exploring. Luke was out of sorts this morning. Most likely from Marie being gone again. As we were tacking up, a trailer pulled in behind us. This got Luke very excited. I think he was hoping it was Marie. He danced around a bit and I had to get firm with him to get him to stand still while I mounted. Again, very unlike him. The other rider had already mounted up and ridden off. Luke was very anxious about the other horse and wanted to follow it. So, when I first got on Luke, he was a bit high headed and prancy. He behaved though and never really did anything wrong. We left Lorax and went left down the Kelley Rd. and then took a right onto the Old County Rd. . Linda had remembered the road as being dirt but the start of it was paved and we didn't know how far the pavement went. The road is a dead end but she was sure there was a trail at the end of it. We decided to ride up a ways. Not far down this road is a cow farm. There were quite a few cows in the field but they were not near the fence line. The barn where they can go in is right beside the road and Gus was very worried about it. By now, Luke was already relaxing and more like himself. We went by a house where someone was out in their yard and we asked them how far the pavement went. He said not much farther so we decided to continue. We went to the end and there was indeed a trail But, it didn't look to be much used. There was a small stream to cross right at the start and neither Luke or Gus wanted to cross. I had asked Luke to go first and there really was nothing at all bad about the crossing. I had to borrow Linda's crop and give Luke a tap on the butt. He went right across then. It is unusual for Luke to hesitate over a little bit of water but in the end it was no big deal. Right off we came to a downed tree. Linda got off to see if we could safely get around it. After she cleared out some branches, we got around with no problem. There were quite a few water spots on this trail but all had good bottoms and neither Gus or Luke made any fuss about them. We came to a spot where the trail split. Going to the right looked like it went into a wet area so we took the more main trail to the left. Eventually, it became a regular dirt road with houses on it. Then we came to the end and the sign said it was the Ledge Hill Rd. But, the no sign to say what road we had come out on. Linda thought it must be the Blinn Hill Rd. But did not know where on the road we were. We went left and rode down this a way but Linda decided we were going the wrong way and we turned and headed back. We came to a house with a man standing in the doorway watching us ride by and we asked him if there was another road back to Lorax other then Ledge Hill Rd. He told us there was so we rode on down Blinn Hill Rd. looking for this road. We rode for quite a while and Linda was starting to worry that if we didn't soon find a trail to cut across back towards Lorax, she would be late getting home. She had to get her granddaughter off the bus at 3:30. We rode just a bit further. We came to a spot on top of a ridge with a lovely view. There was a horse farm here and a woman working out in the barn. We asked her directions and she told us that there was no trail to cut across other then the the one we came through on and told us that was the fastest way to get back to Lorax. We decided to turn back so Linda would get home on time.

Just as we got back to the trailer, it started to rain so our timing turned out to be perfect. And though we did a lot of riding along paved road, they were quiet roads and we had some lovely views so it was a great ride all in all. And, the road crews were all done working when Linda took me home so no delays there either.

Ouch!

Poor Luke! This is what I was greeted with when I got home from work on Thursday morning (1:00am) This is what happens when you stick your nose in places it doesn't belong! After looking him over I went back to the house to get my camera and a pair of pliers. After having him pose for a few pictures, I carefully slipped his halter on and prayed he would let me remove the quills. I would not be able to wrestle the quills out of an unwilling 1300 lb, 16 + H mule. Bless his mulie heart, he was such a good boy about it. He jumped and snorked at me when I pulled the first quill as it caught him by surprise. After a short little dance, he faced himself into a corner, lowered his head and just stood quietly. He flinched and blew with each quill I pulled but he stood and gave his head back to me each time. Sweet, sweet trusting boy!

Bowdoinham Ride

This morning I trailered Luke over to Susie's to ride with her. She work 1/2 days on Monday so has a little time in the mornings to ride. It was a lovely morning and Luke happily hopped into the trailer and seemed eager to be heading off on an adventure. I got to Susie's by 8:45 am and we were in the saddle by 9:00 am. We rode across Susie's field and across a snowmobile bridge and out to the Booker Rd. and did some loop trails out there. Luke and Bayzen were both good boys. We had to bushwhack around a few downed trees but neither of our boys mind doing that at all. On the way back we took a different way back to Susie's field. There was another bridge to cross. We got off to look it over. It was ok and we got across fine. But, we decided not to go that way again as the ground on each side of the bridge is so rough. We got back to Susie's right on time at 11:00 am. Another great ride on Luke!

Bridges and Jumps and rainy day riding

Today Joanie, Nancy and I planned to ride in Pittston at 9:30 am. When I got up at 8:00 am, it was raining out quite hard. I listened to the weather report and they were not calling for rain at all. Pffffftttttt. So, I called Joanie and confident that it was going to clear off, we decided to ride at 10:30 am. We would ride from my house as I had to work so wouldn't have time to trailer out. Joanie and Nancy arrived at 10:00 am and it was STILL raining! But, very lightly so we decided to ride anyway. Days like today I appreciate my synthetic saddle!

Once again Luke was feeling positively bouncy as we headed out and he took the lead at the start of the ride. We took the trail behind my house that come out below the alpaca farm then rode up by the farm and took the trail by the overpass. We went straight through to the South Adams Rd. On this trail there was a downed tree across the trail that was a perfect jump opportunity! Clear of snaggy branches, decent footing on each side. It was not all that high but enough to make them jump! Yeeeehaaaaa. Joanie led and Frannie jumped neatly over. I was right behind on Luke who jumped nicely over like he might have been an eventer in a former life......... and my good old Marie made the most impressive jump of all! She jumped nicely but made darn sure she cleared it! Go Marie!

When we got to the metal grate bridge, Marie, of course, went over like a good girl. I was right behind Marie and Luke almost followed her right over. He got all 4 feet on but chickened out and backed off. I decided to stay on him this time to see if I could get him over without leading him. It took a minute or so to convince him to try but finally he did. He very, very carefully tiptoed over the bridge with tiny mincing steps. It was funny and at least he didn't try to lay down. Joanie's Frannie still isn't thrilled about the bridge either but she too went over with a little persistent persuasion. Joanie took her over the bridge a couple times to get her more used to it.

For the rest of the ride, Joanie and I went back and forth leading. Frannie was feeling her oats today too. We had to move right along for the last of the ride as we were cutting it close on time. We got back just a little bit before 2:00 pm. and I have to leave for work by 2:45 pm. Nancy, sweet woman that she is, cleaned out Marie's stall while I fed them both. Fred had supper ready for me so I cleaned up quick, ate and ran out the door for work...... with a big smile! Work is always more tolerable after a wonderful ride.

To West Bowdoin Again

Ahhhh, today Susie, Linda and I had big plans. Susie and I had the day off and Linda's grandchildren had a class trip so she didn't have to get them off the bus so we were all free to go venture further afield for an adventure ride......... then, Thursday morning I get the call...... "This is Dr. Howell's office to remind you of your appointment for you and Fred for your cleaning....."  AGH! What was I thinking when I made an appointment for a Friday! But, the appointment was at 8:00 am so would not kill the whole day. Then Linda found out she had to be home for her grandchildren by 3:00 pm after all. And Susie did have friends coming over for dinner this evening. So, we decided that we would still ride but just stay close to home. So, it was decided we would ride in West Bowdoin. Those trails are so much fun it's hard to get tired of them.

Susie picked me up at 9:45 am. I was ready and was just haltering Luke when Susie arrived. I wondered if Luke would mind Susie's trailer. It is a slant load step up like mine but it has a much higher step up. Luke is such a gem. He didn't even hesitate and hopped right in. Well, he had to stop half way in and take the opportunity to smell Bayzen's butt but after a sniff, he went all the way in and we were on our way. We arrived first but Linda was only moments behind us. Luke had no issue with the big step out of Susie's trailer either. Luke is such a good boy to travel with. He's gotten on ever trailer I've asked him to with no fuss. Straight load, slant load, ramp, step up, large and small. Backing out on ramps worry him a little but he makes no fuss. He just backs out on his toes waiting for the drop. It's funny to watch.

We tacked up and were soon on our way. We did all the loops on the left side of the pipe line. Luke took the lead right at the start and was full of energy. Susie and Linda were having to trot to keep up with Luke's very enthusiastic walk. The trails here have very good footing so you can move right along. When we picked up a trot, Luke was moving out with lots of energy. He really seems to love being out on the trail. And a happy mule makes for a happy rider. We crossed the pipe line down by the Keay Rd. end and went up through the sand pits with the two ponds and out the "Witches house" trail to the Ben's Hill Rd. When we got out to Ben's Hill Rd. We were debating if we had time to make the big loop up to the Wood School House Rd. when we saw 3 riders coming down the road towards us. It was Stephanie Hill. We stopped and chatted for a bit. We considered riding together but coming from opposite directions, someone would end up backtracking so we went our own ways.

We decided not to try making the big loop as we don't know the trail on the upper end very well and didn't want to get lost and run into a problem getting back in time. So, we rode down the Ben's Hill Rd. to the Williams Rd. and then down the Keay Rd. to get back to the pipe line. On the Williams Rd, there is a farm that has a lot of animals on both sides of the road. Cows, chickens, geese, goats, llama and who knows what else. And there is always a lot of activity there and a lot to look at for passing equine. Susie on Bayzen was leading at this point. Bayzen was nervous but he was a very good boy about it. Luke was not really concerned, just curious. Gus figured any monsters would eat Bayzen or Luke first leaving him plenty of time for escape and he followed quietly behind.  And there was a surprising amount of traffic for what are mostly dead end roads. But again, Luke, Bayzen and Gus were good steady boys. A man I work with lives in the first house on the Keay Rd. We rode into his driveway but he wasn't home. We picked up the pipeline there and right off we passed a house with horses. The horses got excited and got to running around in their enclosure and for some reason this made Bayzen very nervous or excited or possibly both. Susie was still in the lead and had me come up beside her with Luke as he was once again just curious but not worried about the horses. Gus reacted to the horses also but didn't do anything bad. We had to cross a bit of a wet area which reminded us why we don't normally ride this section of trail. This late in the year it's not bad though and we had no trouble. We then took the trails out towards the trailer park and I showed Susie and Linda a cut off trail that bypasses the trailer park. The park owners have asked us not to ride though there anymore.

We did the bypass trail, got a bit turned around, did an extra small loop and then headed back to the trailers. Once there we still had some time so we rode down the pipe line on that side of the road. None of us have ever followed it in that direction but we know the pipe line intersects the Wagg Rd trail. If we could ride to that trail we could make another nice look. We did know there was a wet area not to far down but figured we'd investigate it. There was a short steep drop down to a stream but it looked safe and it was. We crossed with no trouble. But, not too much further we came to a second wet swampy looking area. ATV's have been going through but it was a fairly long stretch and very rutted up and we didn't like the look of the water. We decided it did not look safe enough to try. We have all had experiences of being sunk in nasty mud hole and swamps and have learned from it. Our equines safety comes first. So, we rode back to the trailers and called it a day. We'd been out nearly 3 hours and a lot of that we were able to keep up a pretty quick pace so we had made a great ride of it after all. Luke is in good shape now and is turning into a trotting machine. He is definitely ready for our first CTR we're going to the first weekend of October. I am so excited about going. Luke keeps such a wonderful steady pace on the trail and his willingness to go make him so much fun to ride. He's so good when we are exploring and is quiet and attentive when we have to go off trail to get around things like downed trees. While his size might be a slight disadvantage in getting under things, his quiet steadiness make him very good at "bushwacking". As usual, it was another great ride.

Frye Mt. Ride

My friend Tracy invited me to go riding with her and her husband at Frye Mt. Their plan was to ride Sunday but I had to work. However, I did have Monday off so they changed their plan to go Monday. Eric decided not to go so Tracy came over and picked me and Luke up at 8:00 am. It is a little over an hour drive to Frye Mt. 

It was a lovely day. Sunny, cool  and breezy. Perfect riding weather. We tacked up and headed out by 9:45-10:00 am. As we were riding down the main gravel road, with me yakking away (if you can imagine that......) I started to wonder if Tracy had a plan for where we were going. Well, Tracy had never been here before. Ooooops, and I had not been paying attention. It has been 3 years since I've been here and I've only been here 3 or 4 times. Tracy had brought her GPS but not soon after she turned it on, the batteries died. So much for that idea! We turned back and rode a just a short way looking for a trail that I though I would recognize if I saw it. But, I decided not to tack back too far so we turned and continued down the main gravel road. We took one trail off to the left and it took us into a corn field. We didn't know if there was anywhere to go from there so we went back to the main gravel road and went to the end of this. We then went right following the snowmobile trail. This trail winds down a hill with a LOT of bridges. Luke had no issues with going over them but Ellie Mae was not happy about how they looked. They were slatted so you could see down through. Ellie Mae didn't put up too much fuss though. We finally came to a bridge that I didn't think looked safe to cross and there was no way around it that looked safe either so we turned around and went back. We poked down a few other short side trails then just did the loop on the gravel roads where you turn by the little cemetery. I wish I'd found the first trail I was looking for, there is so much more fun riding that Tracy didn't get to do. But that's ok, it's a good excuse now to come back again soon! 

When we got back to the parking area, we jumped the mules down the little stone wall....... because it was there.......... The mules agreed to amuse us. Such good mules! 

Burrs and Bulls

We have been having absolutely glorious riding weather! Today my friend Joanie picked me up at 9:15 am and we headed over to Winthrop to ride the Mt. Pisgah trail. My hourse Marie left this morning on an overnight trip to Mt. Blue with Linda and her cousin Nancy so Luke was feeling sorry for himself being left behind as was VERY happy to see his halter this morning. (And Marie just got back yesterday from an overnight trip with Susie and David to NH! She's one busy girl this year) We parked at the fire station as usual. It didn't take long to get tacked up and headed down the road. I've purchased a new girth for Luke. The first one I bought rubbed a little bit of hair off on my last longer ride. No sore, just some rubbed off hair. I've used it all season with no trouble so I'm not sure why it rubbed the last ride. But, I don't want to take a chances with Luke's first CTR coming up so I purchased a new girth that I think will lay better on him. Today would be a good test.

Early in the ride we follow an old woods road out to a dirt road. The end of the woods road runs along side of a pasture where there are some cows. Well, when we got there today, the electric fence had been moved over right across the old road! ACK! There was one cow out in the pasture watching us with great interest when we came up the trail. The brush is pretty heavy along the side of the old road and there is a stone wall along it so I wasn't sure if we could get through. I got off to walk it first to make sure it would be safe and promptly found myself in a mess of burdock! And I must say they stick very well to riding tights. Joanie stayed mounted and was holding Luke. I walked up through, trampling down the burdock as best I could and decided we could get through. Just as I was coming back, still trying to trample down the burdock and busily pulling them off my tights, the cow, which turned out to not be a "cow" but rather a bull, suddenly decided to trot on up to the fence to check us out. He looked to have friendly intent.... actually, he was looking at Frannie like he thought she was kind of cute and was mooing at her. Well, Frannie was NOT impressed and started to dance and spin. Luke stood but his reins started to get wrapped around him and around Joanie and around Frannie. Joanie tried hard to keep her and both equines sorted out but had to drop Luke's reins to keep from truly getting dangerously wrapped up in them. To give Luke credit, he was not overly worried about the cow, and only slightly concerned about why Frannie was upset, but then when he saw me rush forward.... well, he figured if I was going to run, there really must be something dangerous and he turned with "that" look in his eyes. So, I immediately stopped and just started walking quietly like nothing at all was wrong, though every fiber in my body wanted to jump at him to snatch the reins. When I slowed down, Luke stood his ground and let me catch him. GOOD MULE! Joanie dismounted and we led Frannie and Luke through to the road. There were two more bulls on the other side of the road tied to a tree close to the road. Frannie didn't like the looks of them either. Luke didn't really care. We led them past the bulls, did a check to get all the burrs off our tack, mule, horse and riding tights! We then mounted up and went on our way.

The rest of the ride went without incident. We kept an eye out for the Renegade boots that Joanie lost on our ride here a few months ago but didn't find either of them. Frannie was full of energy today and led for most of the ride. We rode up Mt. Pisgah to the fire tower road and down that to the paved road and rode the paved road back to the trailer. Both Frannie and Luke were perfect and we had a great ride!

Mule Eating Grain Bags

My friend Susie picked up my horse Marie this afternoon. She and her husband are going on an overnight trip to NH to an endurance ride that is also having a pleasure ride. Susie and David are doing the 12 mile pleasure ride So, Luke was feeling a bit sorry for himself this afternoon being all alone. I had picked up grain and didn't feel like moving Luke to the back paddock so I could open the gate and drive into the barn and decided to just carry the bags from the gate to the barn. Luke was standing in the front stall and as I was coming across the paddock with the first bag clutched against my chest, I see a look of serious concern come into Luke's eyes. The closer I got, the more concerned he got and he started blowing and snorting. The bottom half of the back door to the stall he was in was closed so he couldn't just "get out of Dodge".  TRAINING OPPORTUNITY! I stepped into the stall and stood quietly and encouraged him to approach me. He spun at first, did some more snorting, briefly considered jumping over the 1/2 door (at which point I quickly eased off on the "pressure" by stepping back) Luke settled finally facing me. It took a bit of sweet talking to get him to step up to me. In a few minutes he quieted and I was able to lift the bag up and put it on his back. At this point he was now pretending like he was never scared. "Yeah, I knew it was a bag of grain all along, I was just playing with you silly human". Have I ever mentioned that I just love a mules expressions......

After I took care of the grain, and then replaced the hose to Luke's water bucket with a new one, I decided to lunge him. He did great! Walk, trot, back to walk transitions all done very well. And good on the whoa today. So, once again, we didn't have to work very long at it.

Luke Learning to Lunge

I've been teaching Luke to Lunge. I've entered him in his first CTR which is only a few weeks away. He needs to know how to trot in and and to be able to do a few circles on the line. Kyle had mentioned that Luke didn't seem to have a clue about lunging and he was right. But, Luke, being a mule, and therefore quite a smart boy, had caught on quite quickly.

We started our first session with just making sure he understood how to move away from pressure when in hand. You know, how to move his hindquarters and how to step over on the forehand. He really had no trouble with this. It's so nice working with Luke as he's obviously never been mishandled and is very trusting. But, he is a typical mule in being very sensitive to body language, and in being very expressive of his thoughts. That is one of the things I love about the mules. They will fine tune your skills if you just pay attention to them. I coaxed him into doing a circle in both directions at a walk.

On our second session, he had obviously retained all he learned on the first session and quickly improved on that. I easily got a walk and trot in both directions. As a matter of fact, he appeared to already find it kind of boring and let his mind wander. "Luke, whoa."  Trot, trot, trot, look at that bird, is that a turtle in the river..... "Luke, WHOA." dum, de, dum, trot, trot, trot, is that Marie eating hay over there...... "LUKE, WHOA! And I gave the lead line a good snap (he had a rope halter on) That got his immediate attention. He immediately set the brakes and turned to stare at me and he had the funniest expression. As if to say, "really, lady, was THAT necessary!" This is the problem with working with mules, it's so hard to stay serious as their expressiveness is so funny. But, after that I had Luke complete attention and he did wonderful. I did not work him long at all once he was paying attention to me and responding well. Luke is as light as a feather on the line and that too is so nice. Such a good boy.

Moose Poop

Today was such a perfect day. Temperatures in the low 70's, sunny with a light breeze. And now that it's September, the deer fly are pretty much gone. My friends Linda, Diane and her daughter Lori came over to my house to ride. We had a great ride. Luke was full of energy today. I think it's the cooler weather. He was good and settled down quickly. We did the Tarr's Mill loop. Luke and I led for most of the ride. We came across some major moose signs while on the old tote road that come out on the Lewis Hill Rd. by the pipeline. There was a spot on the road with many, many piles of moose poop and most all the piles were fresh so there were a number of moose there. None of the equines showed any signs of concern though so they couldn't have been very close at the moment we went by.

West Bowdoin Ride

My friend Joanie and I made plans to ride this morning. The day started off a bit foggy and over cast but the forecast called for good weather so we decided to go. Joanie picked me up at about 9:15 am and we headed over to ride in West Bowdoin. We parked on the gas line as we usually do. The black flies are out and were quite annoying while we were tacking up but once we got going, they were not an issue. And there weren't many deer fly today! Hooray!!!!! Luke and I took the lead as Joanie is not familiar with the West Bowdoin trails. Luke was full of energy today and moving out very nicely. We started out by doing a few loop that all lead back to the gas line. We then did the loop that goes through the trailer park which we've done many times. But, this time we were asked not to ride though there anymore. Oh, well, not a real loss of any good trail. We then did the loop that goes into the gravel pit with the two ponds and up to the Witches House trail and looped back around to the West Rd, back onto the trails at the day care home and back to the pipe line. We decided to do some exploring of some trail out though the old tire dump. We came to several dead ends out there so didn't find anything great but still very nice riding. All in all it was a great ride and it turned out to be a very lovely day. Luke and Frannie were very good sports about all our riding in circles and in and out of dead ends. Such good equines!