Dude, Where's My Trail!??

Here it is, almost APRIL and the woods are still choked with snow that can be measured with a yardstick!! But at long last the roads are clear enough that I was finally able to take Quzqo OUT of the indoor arena and go someplace where we could travel in a straight line for a long, long time!!

He hadn't been ridden outdoors since early last November, so I didn't take any chances, tacking him up in our good trail saddle, breast collar, and a shanked bit. Had my cell phone, and tied my hunter orange sweatshirt to the back of the saddle. He also has shoes on his front feet for the first time in 2 or 3 years. We were READY!

It was a balmy 34 degrees with a nice 10 mph wind, making the wind chill around 21 degrees, and of course just as we stepped out of the barn, the sky clouded over, reminding me that we've got a winter storm forcast for tonight into tomorrow. Oh goody.

The horse did surprisingly well, considering it's his first time outside a fence in 5 months (!!!!!) and he's an Arabian. Oh, we had a couple of little spook-fits leaving the property (OMG a SNOWBANK!), and when we got to the end of the fenceline he pulled his usual Drama Queen "Oh no, we're NOT leaving the property" but I had spurs on and got him moving off the property. You'd think having stared at the same fences all winter, he'd be eager to see some new sights!

There was between 1 foot and 3 feet of snow in the woods, so we stuck to the roads. Since he's got shoes on now, we were able to trot and canter without him being "ouchie" about the gravel...that was a nice change!

LOL, as we were leaving we came to a long hill, and we started trotting; he broke into a canter...the same thing he did years ago when he ran off with me and I ended up in the emergency room! I briefly worried on that, then it occured to me; this horse is so FAT you can't feel his ribs even if you push hard! Yep, halfway up the hill he pooped out and walked the rest of the way, puffing and huffing!

Our ride was pretty much short bits of trotting or cantering with lots of walking, cuz both of us are out of shape. It was interesting to see all the treasures uncovered by the melting snow...articles of clothing, car parts, election signs, and the requisite deer rib cage.

We made it to the edge of the state forest where the Shore-to-Shore trail goes in...the snow was pretty deep, so we didn't even bother trying.



He did darned good though, no major spook-fits, good as gold on the road when cars and trucks whizzed by. I'm optimistic for what this year holds!