Wide Open Spaces

I was disappointed to arrive at the farm Saturday to find out that Kazi had not been trimmed or re-shod. Also, a side note: The pictures taken last week do GREATLY exaggerate the toes in front, but his toes are simply too long for me to feel comfortable asking for much from him. I wanted to get further photos but there were tons of people around and I didn't want to seem like a creep. The horse does have a heart of gold though and has been foot perfect since his tumble last week. That said, I was not about to do any sort of real riding on him and further exacerbate the issue. I did not want to ride him Saturday if his feet weren't done and if I did, it would be just tack walking around. A group of people were going on a walk-only trail ride and asked if I wanted to go so I could see the trail system a little (and they knew I was worried about Kazi's feet). The two trainers there agreed his feet were fine for a walk in the park, so off we went! Sometimes in situations like this, it's good for me to be ambushed with a new plan. Given any time to think about what lies ahead I have a tendency to worry about silly things. This was Kazi's first trail ride of the year and I knew it would be interesting and educational.

What I know about his experience on trail is limited to a few stories. He is apparently pretty good in groups, will lead or follow, isn't particularly spooky, jigs on his way home...the usual kind of stuff. I have heard about him bolting when other horses have spooked and getting a little goofy in open spaces...so I tried to keep an open (and sensible) mind heading out. We took the opposite route of the loop we were going on which took us into an area called the Meadowlands. It is essentially a huge clearing that they are working on to reroute some of the trails (sadly to accommodate bikers). The footing is great and it's nice and windy with some good hills here and there. Kazi had a really hard time keeping it together once we got out there and he could see for acres and acres. I didn't react, simply kept my reins soft (short enough that if he bolted I would have reins to use, but not so short that he felt restricted in ANY way) and followed his head with my hands. I counted his rhythm in my head and chatted with the trainer who was leading in front of us. The two girls riding behind me are both teenagers who were on pretty dead broke mounts (though, they both have their moments). The horse leading is a really cool Rocky Mountain Horse that is just as sturdy and calm as can be, but he is a big baby. He can handle pretty much anything unless that "thing" is coming towards him at speed. If that happens he wheels around and runs in the other direction. In my mind I pictured a little cartoon horse running away from something scary with a big cloud of dust and it's little legs going so fast but the horse isn't going anywhere. The trails were pretty quiet and there weren't too many tough questions along the way. The was one point where a log had fallen and created a beautiful 3 foot vertical across the trail. We had two options to get around it, but Kazi couldn't figure out the first one -- which was following the horse in front off to the left over a narrow path and back down. As we started in that direction, I could feel him thinking about leaping to get to the lead horse, so I turned him around and headed up an embankment and around the whole fallen tree instead. It was a much better choice for both of us. He still seemed pretty confused with how to get down the other side, but at least he wasn't pressured into any airs above ground. The whole loop took about an hour, and as we headed back to the barn all of the horses got a little goofy. I didn't mind at all, but then we headed toward a horse eating monster. Said monster was just a small piece of equipment about 50 yards away (and on the trail path) that was moving rocks around. The unit must have been a little bigger than a ride on lawn mower, but holy crap, this thing made soooo much noise. The horse in front, Sonny, was coming unglued, and Kazi was following suit. We stood there for about 5 minutes trying to get the operator's attention so he could shut it down for us to pass. The two boys were just losing it a little and Kazi just wanted to keep moving. Having him stand there was pretty awful and I could tell he couldn't figure out what to do with his body. Finally, the guy shut it off and now we had to convince the already terrified horses that they had to meet their maker! Sonny was actually so bad that it somehow calmed kazi down. He was spinning and trying to bolt away and Kazi stood like a gentleman while I patted his neck and encouraged him to walk (slowly) past. I like for horse to really SEE the scary thing, touch it if they need to and learn how to walk away from it. Everyone got past just fine and we were nearly home (I think that element made everyone want to just run for home). Kazi proceeded to just stay really excited and worried about maintaining the distance between him and the leader so we switched places. Putting Kazi in front meant he had to look around and pay attention. His whole body relaxed and we marched back to the barn on the buckle.

What a brave boy!

I was really proud of him for his first trail ride of the year and our first together! Nothing he did was dangerous or crazy, and it was helpful to have a trainer there to help guide me through the scary parts. One of the things I like so much about thoroughbreds is that they just have great brains. They really try to figure things out and want you to help them along the way. It's a real partnership.

There were some really cool spots along the trail for trotting and cantering and I am looking forward to working up to that with him!

I gave him plenty of love, stuffed him full of granola bars and gave him a kiss on the nose!

*His owner was out on Sunday and worked on trailering again...she said he still wouldn't stay in the trailer -- sigh. I think it's just too small.