A Great Day for a Ride (or 2)

It reached 60* today! After not riding for a month because of cold, windy, snowy, weather, this was a treat! I called a girlfriend last night to see if she wanted to go riding with me, and she said she'd bring over 2 horses, which is great, since I had 2 horses in mind to ride, too. My mom was feeling better after a 4 week bout with a cold, so she joined us for our morning ride. Cheryl wanted to ride her 4yo filly first with a steady horse, so that would be my newly saddle trained Icelandic gelding, Andi. Believe it or not, only 4 months under saddle (and not ridden for a month) and he is my steadiest horse! I had a fanny pack full of carrot slivers to click him for whatever I felt necessary. It was Andi's first trail ride in his new hackamore. It is a rope hackamore similar to Dr. Cook's Bitless Bridle; it is also called an Indian Hackamore by some. I've heard good things about this, and terrible things about this hackamore, so I decided to let Andi be the judge. I know one thing - he likes it better than his bit! I've also recently introduced a "saddle stablizer" thingie, so I can mount my treeless Sensation Saddle from the ground if I have to get off for any reason (the treeless rolls unless you use a mounting block). This stablizer attaches to the off side on the saddle, goes under the horse's armpit, and attaches back to the saddle. This has the horse's armpit acting to hold the saddle in place as you mount from the other side. Today (with the clicker, of course) I was able to lift myself all the way up to the saddle 3 times with Andi standing completely still. Now, I need to get a pouch to store it in so I can carry it on the saddle.

Andi came upon his first mud puddles today - some as big as a lake! Being in the desert, it isn't often you come upon puddles in the desert to train your horse in. We've had such a wet (as in snow) winter, with the warmer weather, all the ice has melted to make big puddles. Andi drank from them, and got c/t for every forward movement in the puddle. Before I knew it, he was all the way in! That's my AndiPandi!

When we got home, I took a good look at the areas where Andi was wet with sweat and I decided I am going to give him a little clip job this weekend so he stays a bit cooler untill he has finished shedding. I clipped him a bit this past November, and I think he needs to be re-clipped because he has some really thick hair and I'm afraid he will overheat. Besides, the WORST of the winter is over. (Knocking on wood!)

Second out today was Whisper. We rode with Cheryl and her paint horse, Captor, to see how compatible their gaits were. Cheryl wants to start riding in some Endurance rides, and like me, she just wants to do it for fun, and not to win. When Captor jogs, it is the perfect speed for Whisper's saddle rack, so I think they may be compatible. We will continue to ride together and see how they do. Whisper was feeling very relaxed and happy today and I think she enjoys not having a bit in her mouth, too. I got an S Hackamore for her and her lips and eyes are more relaxed. Of course, she is also getting clicker training, and she enjoys that. At the start of the ride, she kept stopping to beg for a treat, but that is a small price to pay to see her going down the trail a happy horse instead of a miserable horse. She had a couple of "airs above the ground" but they were happy airs and not anxious airs. I knew the difference immediately as my own heartrate did not go up, and I was not fighting her. She was just a bit exhuberant! I did not go trotting or cantering down the trail after that, tho. I did not think I could stick in the saddle with that kind of exhuberance! On the way home, Whisper was licking and chewing, and I would have done more head down exercises, but I had run out of carrot slivers (note to self: wear the bigger fanny pack that holds more carrots). She never once got "fish butt lips".

I did wear my helmet cam today fastened to my leg just above my knee. However, there was so much camera motion that I couldn't even watch them back. Guess I will have to find another place for the camera.