Zoe and Little Foot..another story

So I finished riding Zoe early one morning....and the cat, Little Foot, jumps up on the barrel.  She wants attention and Zoe wants to rub her muzzle on that soft fur.  So we ride over to the barrel.  The two of them are nose to nose when suddenly Little Foot gets this idea.  I guess she wanted even more attention so she jumped on Zoe's neck and started walking the crest of her neck towards me.  Mind you I'm in the saddle...hoping that Zoe doesn't blow up.  Little Foot starts to loose her footing and Zoe said "that's enough" and tosses her head and neck to get the cat off.  Zoe doesn't panic or blow up, she just decided that she had had enough and the cat needed to leave.  The cat tried to stay on and had her claws in Zoe's mane.  I was really hoping at this point that Little Foot didn't have her  claws in Zoe's neck....but apparently not...no claw marks afterwards.  Little Foot decides that this is not working the way she planned and releases her claws and lands on the ground and runs for the grandstand...hiding underneath.  Zoe just stands there quietly watching her friend run away.  Phew!  Good pony!  Silly cat!  So we walk around a little while and I get off and coax Little Foot out from under the grandstand.  Zoe and Little Foot touch noses again then we started walking for the barn.  Little Foot runs ahead of us and Zoe calmly follows.

Zoe and Little Foot

A while ago I wrote that Zoe and Little Foot like each other...we have a ritual we go thru in our morning rides.  Just about when we are done with our work, we get to do this.  They both seem to enjoy it.  Funny animals.

Another weekend ride

Today I was determined to get to a place I just learned was called "Dottie's Hill"  It was pretty easy to get to.  I usually go down this hill, I've never gone up it until today.  It was fun.  I don't know why I hadn't done this before.  Will be doing it again.  We met 3 hikers that were confused, they wanted to go to Auburn.  We pointed them in the direction of the Pioneer Express Trail...long walk.  I updated my roaming on my phone so the gps worked better.  A friend had told me that the trotting trail and the road next to it were impassable...we tried the road next to the trotting trail.  Yup, currently impassable, but when the mud dries I think we will be able to pick our way thru the trees on the trail.  We found our way to the trails towards the right and hoped that it wasn't too boggy down the final hill to the big road.  It wasn't boggy, the dirt was soft but you can walk on it just fine.  Another few weeks it will be rock hard.  4.99 mi, avg 3.16mph
Last weekend we (Jim, Dottie and Me) went to Inspiration Point and made it just fine.  Just this last Thursday Dottie and Cheryl tried it again but found a tree down where you turn to the left and go thru the marshy part...apparently difficult to get thru but can be done...might get scratched up some...Dottie and Cheryl can attest to that.  So next week we are going there with our tree saws and making it a better place.  Dottie says my tree saw will do it...hope so because I can't haul a chain saw in there.  The only thing that might stop me is I have my brother coming to visit on Wed-Sunday.

Fast out...slow home?

Today I had a short time to ride...had a farrier coming at 12 noon and I got off work @ 9:40.  By the time I got on the trail it was 10:30.  So I had alot of energy going out on the trail.  We trotted alot and loped more than usual.  It wasn't a very long ride.  I turned to go towards home and Zoe was still in the "hurry mode".  I asked for a trot up a hill and got a lope instead.....so turn around and go back down the hill and try it again.  She did it fine.  But she was still pretty fast walking home.  So at the end of one of our downhills we turned around and trotted back up it.  Walking down was a bit calmer, she still had a good walk on her.  I didn't mind the walk as long as the "emotion" of hurry to get home wasn't in charge.  If my gps would have been working properly I would have liked to know the milage and speed....but I forgot to update my roaming capabilities so it didn't work right.  I know I was overall moving faster than my last ride which was 3.98mph...and I was sure I went further than the 2.14 miles that it told me today.  But that was only a minor bump in the day.  What I want to remember about today's ride was the speed going out...make it fast and then asking Zoe to calm down towards home.  I want to do it again and see if she can do better over time.

GPS/ride towards Rattlesnake

So a friend found another GPS app for my phone, it works on her phone too.  I decided to try something weird, I ran the old GPS and the new GPS at the same time.  The new one: Enodomondo (E), the old one: My Tracks (MT).  Yesterday the only thing the same about both of the tracks was the time: 1:23. MT came up with 8.55 mi @ avg speed 6.18 and E came up with 4.66 mi @ 3.35mph.  Hmmmm.  E sounded more reasonable.  I tried it again today as we went towards Rattlesnake.  Now this was interesting because we had mile markers to aid us and the E GPS talks to you as you go along...telling you what mile you are on and the time it took you to get there.  E seemed to be accurate.  The MT had us going further and faster than we really went.  So now I have a new GPS.
As far as the ride went it was good.  Last time I went here was with 4 horses and it was the first time Zoe had been on this trail in about a year.  This time she was calmer, went over bridges just fine.  Balked at 2 drainage pipes on a curve in the trail.  So I got off, walked back and forth across them a few times, got back on and we led the way across them...no problem.  But the rest of the trip was great, she wasn't as excitable like last time.  Maybe fewer horses or maybe it is a more familiar place now.  Anyway we will be going again.   We did find 1 rattlesnake in the middle of the trail.  Sky was in the lead and he did great, not very excited by it.  I did get off here and found a branch to throw at it.  At first it didn't seem bothered, but then it slowly moved off the trail.  As I threw a few more branches at it, it started rattling.   We walked past that place rather quickly, got back on and away we went.  The horses didn't seem bothered by it.  2:55--8.07 mi @ avg 2.76 mph.

Good to get out again

Today it was sure nice to get out on the trail again.  After staying in due to the EHV-1, it  was really nice to get out.  We ran Skippy and Zoe in the arena first and boy did they have fun kicking up their heels.  The last ride out I took on Zoe was to Rattlesnake.  She did pretty good today....no wild, unexpected, stray horsey thoughts acted out on the trail.  The only thing we dealt with was snatching a bite to eat now and then....but "we have ways to deal with that".  We saw turkey hens with their babies, birds flew out of bushes from behind us and the horses just plodded on.  I got a chance to use Endomondo-a new  GPS tracking app that a friend told me about.  I didn't know it but it talks to you as the miles go on.  The horses didn't care that a computerized voice was coming from my pocket....good thing.  We ran into friends out on the trail and the horses didn't think they needed to go with them.  We even met a friend almost all the way home, grazing her horse in the field of poppies.  I'm sure Zoe was wondering why that horse got to eat while she was not allowed to eat.  While I was riding just at the barn the last 2 weeks, I decided to ride bareback only.  It was a good experience.  Today was the first day I sat in a saddle on a horse in about 2 weeks.  It felt good but different.  I think today I was more aware of how I use my seat while riding.  Endomondo: time 1:17, 3.7 mi, 2.87 mph.