On Wednesday I usually go on a trail ride with just me and Zoe. I find that I need to do that at least once a week in order for Zoe to be accustomed to being out by herself. There was a time when I was going on the trail all the time with other people and then I tried to take Zoe out by herself and I had a horse that didn't want to go out. So I find going out by myself once a week helps with that.
However today (Wednesday)....we did something different. I had a friend ask me if I'd go with her-she has a foxtrotter. My past experience with foxtrotters told me that our two horses gaits would not be compatable. So I was thinking that we could leave together but we might end up going home our separate ways. So it would be an adventure-something different. My friend also said that her horse can be high energy-barn sour tense energy-especially on the way home. So I said we'd give it a try.
The first half of the ride was good. The foxtrotter was faster at the walk but we could keep up. And trotting was okay, we stayed pretty much the same speed. We got to the KBB Hills and worked some of them over and over again. Then headed towards home. That's when the foxtrotter turned into a different horse. He was naughty...jigging, tense, not listening. Zoe didn't feed off his "energy", she remained calm but was mad at him. Every once in a while she would lay her ears back at him as if to say "knock it off". So we decided to go our separate ways. That way the foxtrotter could get the extra "work" he needed. And go extra miles if needed. Zoe was fine going down a different trail. She doesn't really know this horse very well, there was no attachment there, so I think it was easy for her to leave him. We walked, did some extended trotting, collected trotting, took a less traveled trail-all the while heading home. She was fine. So I guess I did end up going out by myself.
No comments:
Post a Comment