Louise Townsend's Ride

Today was Lily's (formally Nell) first "organized" ride. We were heading up to Louise Townsend's home in Clinton to ride. I've done this ride a number of times and it's always a fun time. My friend, Kathie from NH, came and spent the night at my house Saturday night so she could go to the ride. She rode one of Amy's mules, Misfire. Cierra also went with me. Ride time is usually 9:30 am. But, it was going to be a hot day so Amy and I talked Saturday and decided to try to get there in time to head out on the trail at 8:30 am. Kathie had I have not seen each other in a while so we were up until about 2 am talking. But, we still managed to get up at 5:30 am to take care of the animals and get ready in time. We met Linda Temple at Exit 43 truck stop and followed her up to the ride. Cierra jumped in the truck with her so she would have company on the way up. It is about an hour drive to Louise's place. Bonnie had originally planned to come with Linda but decided it was going to be too hot to ride and changed her mind about going.

We got to Louise's in good time and parked in the big field in front of her house. Cierra and I unloaded Tink and Lily and tied them to the trailer with their hay bags. They were both quiet and happy to stand and munch their hay. We went up to the house and registered for the ride. Jim and Mary Ellen were there helping Louise put on the ride. I was so happy to see them, it has been about three years since the last time I've seen them! Lily was quiet while I groomed her and tacked her up. It took a minute to get Lily to stand at the mounting block. By then, the group was already heading out so we started out near the back. We had to ride around the edge of a large field. This turned out to be a bit of a mental overload for Lily. She started to dance around and was like sitting on a ticking time bomb. I hopped off her and led her the rest of the way around the field to where the trail went into the woods. The whole group was kind enough to stop and wait for me to get on. Lilly was dancing around a bit and it took a few minutes. Once I was on, I put Lily right near the front. She was wonderful the rest of the ride.

The group split up into smaller groups as we went along. Some of the horses were getting a bit exited when we were moving faster in a large group. Kathie on Misfire ended up behind me. Lily was walking out pretty fast. The trail was a mix of dirt roads, single track trail, paved road and fields. Lily was fine with the traffic. Our group ended up me, Cierra, Linda and Judy. When we came to the Wright's farm and to where we had to ride by the cow barns, all four equines just froze and none wanted to go by. Cierra was able to get Tinkerbell to lead and the rest reluctantly followed. Lily was a bit boogered going by but didn't do anything bad at all. I was very pleased with how she handled it.

Once we got back to the farm, we tied Lily and Tink to the trailer with plenty of hay. Despite the heat, there was a nice breeze making it comfortable. Louise provided a meal and we sat and enjoyed that and each other's company under her huge maple trees in her front yard. It was a wonderful day.

Just a Jaunt Out Back

I haven't really had time to do much with Lily all week. Cierra jumped on her bareback one day to see how Lily would react to someone on her bareback. Lily didn't care at all. Even when Cierra didn't make it all the way on and had to wiggle and squirm a bit. Lily stood quietly. Lily only had a halter and lead rope on and Cierra only rode her a few circuits around the front paddock. At first Lily tried to follow me but it didn't take much to get her going without me. At one point Cierra was rubbing Lily's withers and Lily was LOVING it and tried to groom me in return but a bit too vigorously so we had to discourage that.

Today I wanted to get Lily out because we are going to an organized ride tomorrow. I wanted to make sure Lily wasn't feeling too fresh when we got there. Cierra decided to ride Marie as Marie was not going to the ride tomorrow. Cierra just jumped on her bareback. It took the usual minute or so to get Lily to stand quietly at the mounting block but she did. Today she started out nice and quiet. We did a 4.5 mile loop out behind my house. It was a warm day but the bugs were not  bad at all. We were pleasantly surprised by that. Nell was a doll and we had a great ride. When we got back we hosed them both off and Lily had fun rolling in the dirt after!

Work Day

Today was a work day in the barn. I had to clean out the 2nd floor to get ready for this years hay. That meant moving what is left of last years hay to the front. I only have 35 bales left so that part wasn't much of a chore but the dust from the sweeping was a bit overwhelming. Marie thought she'd hit the jackpot as food was falling from the sky right into her paddock. There was quite a lot of loose hay I swept out the door so I ended up forking it all into Marie's stall so she could eat it without it getting ruined by being outside.

I also had to do some stall shuffling. Always such a dilemma. Each of my stalls has access to it's own paddock. But, who should go where, I want Lily to have 24/7 access to a round bale, so I want the bale inside.  But she needs to have pasture also so is in the river pasture. But, that stall is only 10x10 so I can't put a round bale in there. I would swap her with Marie as she has a 20' stall but Marie can't have grass. To keep Lily on the river pasture but give her a big stall, I would have to swing a stall panel across the aisle at the back of the barn. I set the barn up so I could do this. That would give Lily a big 10x20 stall with room for the round bale. But that stall door leads into Tinkerbell's paddock. So I now have to set up some panels to change that and make it so she still only has access to the river pasture. But, can I set it up securely with the gates and panels I have. As the house is for sale, I don't want to do any major work. And now the barn aisle will be a little shorter and make it so we can't cross tie two in the aisle at the same time. And so on and so on, you see it's never just a simple thing.

In the end I decided to set up the back stall again. Fred helped me hang a gate, I got a panel and with the use of a second gate already mounted on the back of the barn, I was able to set up the short run I needed to give Lily access to the river pasture from the stall door. She was a bit put off by a change to her living arrangements solely on the basis that it was a change. Mules hate change. But, after thoroughly investigating her new stall, she started to think it might be ok. She went in and out and in and out many times. I left to pick up a couple round bales. When I put one in her stall, that was the deciding factor for her and she decided she liked the new living arrangements after all. And unlike the mules before her that were quite worried about the large green bag the hay was in, she never gave it a single thought and dove right in to the hay.

When I went out to feed tonight. She was happily hanging out in her new luxury suite. After I did chores, I groomed Marie, then I groomed Lily. She just LOVES to be groomed. She does not move a muscle when you are brushing her as if she thinks if she does move, you might stop. And she gets such a soft happy look. She is really a sweet mule.

West Bowdoin

After it poured rain all day yesterday, I was happy that today was a lovely day. It was cool but that was good as the bugs weren't an issue. The original plan was to meet my friend Amy at Frye Mt. she ended up needing to stay close to home so Cierra and I decided to go over to West Bowdoin. 

Nell hesitated for just a second about loading into the trailer today. But, only for a second. She backed out nicely when we parked and she stood nicely tied to the trailer while I groomed and saddled her. She got quite excited when we got ready to go. She didn't seem nervous, just excited to get going. She had a hard time standing still to be mounted. A little patience and I got her settled down. Once she stood, she stood perfect. Nell was a bit excited when we started out but didn't do anything wrong and listened to me. I tucked her behind Cierra's Tinkerbell to settle her down. It didn't take long for her to settle.

The trails in West Bowdoin for the most part are nice trails with good footing. You can travel along pretty fast. I'm not ready to get to crazy on Nell yet and with yesterday's rain, the trails were wet. We did do a lot of trotting, the most I've done yet with Nell. She did great. Cierra was in front for most of the trotting and Tinkerbell set a nice steady pace that Nell followed nicely. We had to stop once for Cierra to get a rock out of one of Tinkerbell's boots. We had to go through a lot of water today but neither Nell or Tinkerbell made any fuss about any of it. We had a really nice ride!

An Adventure in Turner

Today was my first "trailer out" day with Nell. This ride was another one of my, "I can't decide what I want to do" rides. There was a TROT ride today at Frye Mt. that Amy had told me about. Then Tracy asked if I wanted to ride with her and Nancy. I told her about the TROT ride and she was interested. But, it would have meant I would have had to get up very early to get there in time for the ride. And, I was not sure how Nell would do trailering alone. Would she load? Would she behave in the trailer? And so on my thoughts went. Finally, the getting up early part decided it for me. Normally I don't mind that but I had not had much sleep the past few days. So, I suggested to Tracy that we ride at Mt. Pisgah and she was all for it. By the time Tracy arrived at my house today, I changed my mind and suggested riding at the Androscoggin Riverlands State Park. Tracy, being the easygoing and spontaneous person she is, said lead the way and she would follow. I had them meet me at my house as it was on their way anyway and they could help me if I had any trouble loading Nell.

I fed, hitched up the trailer, quickly cleaned the barn and was in the house when Tracy arrived. I went out and Nell came into her stall and was happy to have me put on her halter and didn't care at all about being led away from the barn and her stable mates. When I got to the trailer, she went straight in without a moments hesitation and stood in there quietly as I closed the gates. I was so proud of her! I quickly gave her a scratch and a treat for being such a good girl and then we were on our way. When we got to the parks parking area, there weren't too many people there and we had plenty of room to park. Nell was still quiet in the trailer. My problem came when I went to unload her. I don't think she's been backed off a trailer before and she remembered there was a drop (I have a step-up trailer) She wanted to turn around but bless her heart, though she indicated this desire, she did not get strong with me at all. She wanted to do what I was asking her to do but was really worried. She hunched up, squatted down and got on her back toes and inched back a little bit, then came forward, froze then tried again. It took a few minutes of this before she finally got up the courage to just do it. Again, I was very pleased with how she handled this situation that she was not comfortable with. I tied her to the trailer and groomed her. She stood quietly munching hay.

It took a few tries before she stood quietly at the mounting block but she stood very nicely once she settled. Tracy was riding her big mule Prize. Nancy was riding Tracy's mule, Ellie Mae. We headed out on the trail and Nell took the lead right away. The first part of this trail has a bunch of metal grate pieces across the trail to shed water... They aren't all that wide. maybe 12" or so. But they are some major scary mule eating monster looking things! Just ask any of our mules. I finally got Nell to go over the first one. After that, she was pretty good about the rest of them. Prize did a pretty impressive leap over one of them. We had a man walking his dog come by us. I was in the lead and the dog kind of lunged and barked. The man had him under control and it didn't really bother Nell. She kept an eye on them but wasn't too worried. Not too far up the main trail, we took a side trail. The bugs were bad at first but once we got on the side trail, it was fine. A little way down this trail we came to a stream with a bridge that was not safe for the mules to cross. But, there was plenty of room to the left of the bridge to safely cross. It was a little rocky but not bad. Nell said no. Tracy tried to lead with Prize and he said no. I got off Nell and led Nell across and she followed me with no hesitation. Prize still said no so Tracy led Ellie Mae across and then went back for Prize. He still said no. So, Nancy and I rode off down the trail and Prize then decided he might give it a try and made it just fine. The trail was very nice and we came out on the main trail not far from the start of the Bradford Loop trail. We did the loop. We had one more section where we got swarmed with bugs but again, once in the shaded woods, it was fine. We had 3 ATV's come up behind us. I was in the lead with Nell. Tracy and Nancy rode off the trail. I was not sure how Nell would be about the ATV's but decided to turn around and ride her right towards them. They pulled over and turn off their engines. Nell was worried and froze up on me once. But a bit of encouraging and she went by them all with Tracy and Nancy following. Then I turned her back around and had her follow right after them when they started back down the trail. She was good about that. We met a runner coming towards us. Again, we were in the lead and Nell kept an eye on him but wasn't really to concerned. Once around the loop, we took the main trail part way back and took two different side trails down to the Androscoggin River. At the second one, there is a nice easy entry into the water and it is shallow. I asked Nell to go in and she did NOT want to do it. After working to get her in for a while, I finally got off and led her in. Like at the stream, once I was leading her, she never hesitated for a second. And, I got to get my brand new riding boots soaked... awesome! Oh well, you do what you have to do. I mounted her while in the water and got her to walk around in it a little. She wasn't thrilled about it but she did it. I walked her out and asked her to go in again. She still didn't want to do it but I was able to get her to step in while still in the saddle. So, all in all I was pleased with her efforts. Coming out of this trail, we met another ATV coming from in front of us. He too pulled over and shut off his engine. Nell was cautious but went right up this time. We stopped and chatted with the man for a moment. He was excited about just having an eagle fly up the trail close to the ground right in front of him. When we got to the old farmstead at the intersection, we played around on the rocks a bit. Nell was very brave and climbed right up one big one. Her Shawnee rock climbing lessons coming in handy here. We took another side trail that leads to the picnic area down by the river. Tracy and I got off here. I got off to check a bridge to make sure it was safe and Tracy got off to go down near the river for the view. We led along the river just a little further to the first picnic table. Mounting opportunity! I led Nell up to it and she was a little suspicious about the look of it and didn't really want to stand next to it. I had to line her up a few times but she finally stood like a good girl. Tracy went to lead Prize up and he would have no part of it. The table was too close to the water for his comfort. This lead to a discussion between Prize and Tracy. I got back off Nell to see if I could help get Prize to step up to the table and it was just about this time Prize spun around and Tracy lost her grip on the reins and Prize rammed right between Nell and me ripping Nell's reins out of my hands. The both trotted over near Ellie Mae and I though we would be fine but just as we got up to them, Prize took off down the trail and Nell followed him. DANG! Tracy and I headed after them. We were thinking that maybe they would not want to cross the bridge......clomp, clomp, clomp....across one bridge. DANG! Then clomp, clomp, clomp, over bridge number 2... and then bridge number 3. They were out of sight and headed away from the parking area. Thought's of the mule recently lost in the Shawnee National Forest and not found for 3 weeks is flashing though my and Tracy's head. A bit further down the trail, we spied them standing in a little ravine. Nell is now standing in front of Prize and they are standing still. Nancy on Ellie Mae had followed us and I think that is what kept Prize from going any further and they both let us walk right up to them. There happened to be a handy bolder right there for our mounting convenience and we were up and on our way no worse for the little unplanned adventure. Nell again took the lead for the rest of the ride and we got back safe and sound. It really was a very nice ride and I was super pleased with how Nell handled everything. When I got home, Nell was still worried about backing off my trailer but did it right way this time.... in her squatty, tip-toe style. And then she did as all real mules do and rolled as soon as she could.

East Cathance Stream Ride

Today was just a really lovely day. Cierra and I had been trying to get out to ride during the week and finally it came together for today. Her friend Joey was going to ride with us on my mare Marie. And another friend, Mary-Jo was coming to. We planned all be at my place by 9:00 am. Cierra and Joey got here earlier and fed the horses and mule. Mary-Jo was right on time. We were all a bit slow getting tacked up but we headed out around 10:00 am I think. I put Nell in the back at first. Cierra's horse Tink is a good girl about leading but by the time we were on Ledge Hill Rd. Nell wanted to get out front as she walks faster so I let her. Right away we got swarmed with deer fly. Nell was not very tolerant of them. She didn't do anything bad, but they were really driving her crazy. As we approached where the cows are, Cierra and Joey took the lead again. Tink and Marie are used to seeing the cows. They were in the barn as we approached but just as I got up alongside their pasture, they came put of the barn.  Nell boogered a bit at this but it was just a little dancing in place and she want on her way. We trotted up the big hill and did a bit of trotting in our usual spots to the first turn. Mary-Jo on her gelding Arthur took the lead for a good part of the way. We stopped at a few puddles to let the horses and mule drink. When we got to the steep decent down to the stream, I took the lead with Nell. There is clay on the trail in this spot and you have to be careful going down it. Nell did great. Tink and Marie have been down it before and know the best places to walk. Arthur was slipping so Mary-Jo hopped off and led him down to keep him safe. At the stream, Nell walked right in. Tink hesitated at first but then came in. Arthur has never been in running water before and he went right in and was absolutely fascinated with it. 

Cierra and Joey dismounted and tied up Tink and Marie so they could explore around the stream. I had to work today so had to head right back home. Mary-Jo came with me. I was so pleased that Nell walked away from her stable mates without a minutes hesitation. She headed down the trail and never looked back. GOOD GIRL! Mary-Jo fell behind me a bit but Arthur was going along quite happily so we were both good. For most of the trail, the bugs had let up but when we got back on Ledge Hill, we got swarmed again. Nell was again quite distressed about it and going down the big hill, she danced around a few step, tripped over her own feet and fell down. She plowed a bit of dirt with her nose but she quickly and carefully got up and to my amazement, I was still in the saddle. I did hop off to check her. She was fine and I led her the rest of the way down the hill, the remounted and we had an uneventful ride the rest of the way back to the house. Once home, I was worried about how Nell would be about being there alone for the first time. I didn't need to worry, she was fine. She trotted around her pasture a few times looking for the others but then settled right down. I am liking this mule more and more. Seems to have such a good level head on her shoulders.

First Home Ride on Nell

Cierra and I decided to go riding this morning. It would be my first ride on Nell at home. She came right to me and put her head into the halter. And she stood well on the cross tied to be saddled. We mounted up out by my horse trailer and it took a few tried to get her to stand quietly at the mounting block but it didn't take long. When we headed out, Nell was really a bit jazzed up. She wasn't doing anything wrong but she felt like a loaded spring. I had Cierra take the lead to see if that settled Nell a bit. As we were approaching my brothers house, we could hear large equipment running. We could have taken the back trail around but I wanted to see how Nell handled whatever it was going on at my brothers place. As we got closer, I could see that trees were being cut and a big chipper was running. And the chipper was parked by the access road with the truck across the road. I decided to hop off and lead Nell by it all. The tree company ended up having to back up the truck and chipper for us to get by. And there was a second vehicle parked on the access road that we had to squeeze by. It was a lot of noise and confusion but Nell didn't make any fuss at all about going by any of it and didn't really seem too concerned. Tinkerbell was, of course, her usual good self.

Once by, I mounted back up. Nell was still a little Jazzed up but very quickly settled down and relaxed. By the time we were at the bottom of the big hill and crossed the stream to start back up the other side, Nell was relaxed enough that I had Cierra lead up the hill at a nice trot. Nell followed along very nicely not worried at all when Cierra got ahead of me a bit. We rode the trail that comes out below the alpaca farm. Tinkerbell did not want to lead the way though the stream crossing near the road. It does have a steep drop into the stream and a steep climb out but the footing is all solid and very good so a safe place. And Tink has done it many times but I usually lead the way on Marie. Nell didn't look worried about it but Cierra wanted to get Tink to go first and with a bit of work, she was able to get her to go. Nell went across with no hesitation.

Once out on the road, Nell took the lead. She has a faster walk than Tink. She did do a small booger when two fairly noisy trucks passed us coming straight towards us. It was a drizzly morning and both trucks had their headlights on. I think this may be what bothered her. But, she only danced a few steps to the side and stopped immediately when I asked her to, then she continued on calmly. Once we were headed home, Tink too the lead again. She found her fast walk for the way home, silly girl. When we got back to my brothers house, I planned to ride Nell by this time. Again they had to move the truck for us to get by. They stopped chipping but the chipper was idling as was a lift truck that we had to pass closely. Nell was fine until we got right up beside them and she started to tense and bunch up. She didn't do anything else but I chickened out and turned her around and dismounted. She did stop and turn immediately and stood to let me dismount. I then led her up to the machines to look over and she was cautious but also willing and curious. I am sure I could have ridden her all the way by without trouble but with age, comes caution. I mounted up again after we got by and we finished our ride. Nell was a super good girl. She seems to have a great head on her shoulders. She is super green and there's a lot she does not know yet but I think it will be easy with her. So far I like everything about this girl.... but her color. But, you don't ride color.