Never Say Never

Back over Memorial Day we-all went on a HUGE trail ride at the barn, with 38 riders. It was truthfully one of the worst times I can remember on horseback. I swore to NEVER do that again because how nuts Quzqo acted, and what a horrible time I had of it!

Well, it's been quite a few weeks, I've put a lot of miles on the horse since that time, and, well, I do kind of regret not going on the June ride (just a little bit). And I didn't have anything better to do today, so...yeah, we went on another huge trail ride!

Not AS huge, only 20 riders this time around. I adopted a new philosophy. The May Ride From Heck was partly (okay, mostly) due to ME. I didn't WANT to gallop down steep hills, I didn't WANT to constantly jig-jog playing catch-up with the horses in front. I didn't WANT to die. So this time I swore to make an effort to relax, not to be so uptight, so tense, to go with the flow. Quzqo will take care of me, I've got a good deep saddle, he's not done anything deliberately BAD to me in years (and even then it wasn't all his fault)...Everyone else seems to have a good time, why should I miss out just because I'm a wimp??

The ride was to leave at 10 a.m., I got there in plenty of time to bring Himself in from the field, brush him, and tack him up with the innumerable do-dads that I seem to require for a stress-free trail ride. Experience has taught me that they all have a purpose, and the more I can do to keep myself from fretting, the better! Okay, so Quz was the only horse on the ride sporting a shoo-fly tassel, a breastcollar, bear bells, a cobbled-up German martingale from a leather curb strap, splint boots, and a red "I KICK!" ribbon on his tail, but better safe than sorry!

The unique thing about this ride was the inclusion of...Amish! I don't know if they were personal friends of the family, or just felt the urge to go on a Poker Ride, but I tried my darndest to not stare. Shame on me, but "Amish Paradise" by Weird Al Yankovic kept running through my mind, and I had to keep from giggling.

Yeah, I snuck some photos, but they weren't posing, so it's allowed.

As usual the kids got their horses tacked up first, and were bombing around the indoor arena. The youngest of the Amish boys was riding the most ADORABLE little pinto pony...c'mon, admit, this is the cutest thing you've seen all day:


Trouble is, the pony was something of a little stinker (as many ponies are), and every time the boy stopped him, he'd lie down, effectively getting rid of his rider! Eventually they put the pony away and caught good ole' RolyPolyOly, the barn owner's sturdy Shetland Pony for the boy to ride!


We had a pretty good crowd, with Bob, the barn owner, his wife Pam riding my farrier's green 3 yr old QH, their Granddaughter on good ole' Colby the QH, the Son-in-Law on his wife's QH Showhorse. A few of the younger boarders were also along, including a young lady who just moved her horse there this past week...she rode English...ah, to be young and brave again! A couple of Pony Clubbers also came along, riding English of course. Quite a few folks had come for the weekend, and were camping in the side pasture, and ready for the ride.

My strategy this time was to NOT let Quzqo be the last horse as he usually ends up, just because he walks so darned slow. We got right into the middle of the pack and managed to stay there for most of the ride. It was GORGEOUS weather, with temperatures in the mid-70's, low humidity, partly cloudy, couldn't ask for anything better!

Awaaaay we go!

Approaching the SCARY GATES, the site of our very first off-property spook-spin-bolt event back in '04!

Decent enough crowd...you can see little RolyPoly at the end of this group!

Grumpy Quzqo...we usually trot and canter along this road, but since it was walk-only...we had to walk.

We did the usual loop around to the Lake Dubonnet campground. I tried to take it nice and easy, keeping Quzqo surrounded by calm horses. He did amazingly well...not one single spook, not one single shy, I think keeping mellow horses near him helped, unlike last time when we rode with a couple of nervous green horses with extra-nervous riders that just ramped up the fear factor for everyone near them.

Everything went quite well, everyone was having a grand time, everyone's horses were behaving. Until we reached....The Swamp.

The Swamp, as I've mentioned in a few previous posts, is a low, swampy area on the Shore-to-Shore trail, sadly in need of a bridge or some sort of reinforced trail over a soggy muddy boggy area maybe 6 feet in length. I've never been able to get Quzqo over that when we were alone, there's usually no problem if there's other willing horses. UNfortunately we've had quite a few days of heavy rainfall, and so yes, the boggy muddy stretch of trail was now under water!

The 10 or so horses way ahead of us got over it okay apparently, because by the time we got down there, everyone else had gone up ahead. The forty hooves also chopped up the ground into a soggy mess. The first rider of our group tried to get her three year old green mare to go through it...nope...instead, the mare spooked sideways and backed into a thick grove of saplings and got tangled up pretty good, including one sapling between her front legs! Since she was off the trail, the rider managed to get her pointed in the right direction and managed to bulldoze through the saplings and around the boggy puddle, to the other side.

The next horse walked right through without hesitation.

The next horse was my farrier's green QH, who would have nothing to do with that water! They too ended up in the saplings on the opposite side of the trail, and backing and fussing and refusing. I don't know how long this went on, Quzqo just stood, I could tell he wanted to GO but he couldn't move, surrounded by stock breeds, he had no choice but to stand on the narrow trail with boggy drop-offs on either side! Eventually Pam gave up, dismounted, and managed to lead "Stanley" off the trail and around, using the path that had been smashed down by the green mare!

Next up was a huge fleabitten grey QH (I believe his name was "Joe" but I could be mistaken). Joe would have NOTHING to do with ANY of that!!! After a few tries, the rider put him as far to the side as she could to make way for us. Oh, goody.

I got Quz up to the edge of the bog...there was easily a 4 foot long stretch of standing water, with maybe 3 feet of mud at the front and backside. He was hesitent, tried to back up, sidestep, then I felt his hindquarters bunch up...

He JUMPED!

Witnesses say he shot straight up in the air, easily four feet up off the ground, in a beautiful display of Airs above the Ground. All I know is that one second we were wiggling on one side of the puddle, next second my face was bouncing off the back of his neck and the pommel of my saddle was smashing into my stomach as he landed! Ah, the pain was exquisite, and I thanked God that I didn't have a horn on my saddle, or I'd have had broken ribs at the least! I was also thankful that I have those sort of glasses that you can bend and smash without damaging them, because that's what hit the back of his neck! Let's face it, when your horse coon-jumps straight up, you can't do any of that fancy jumpin' position stuff!

I'm sure something got wrenched or twisted, but the pain in my side and chest subsided within a few minutes. Somehow I have a big black bruise on my left hand. The horse had mud splashed up onto his croup and my arms were also splashed. Maybe if he jumped for length instead of height... *sigh*. Luckily I knew he'd do that and was ready! That's my Quzqo!

The next rider dismounted and lead her horse around the puddle. The remaining two walked right through, including the grey QH that was previously in hysterics.

Since no one got hurt, of course we were all giggly about it...yeah, it's fun when you don't die!!

We stopped for a potty break at the Lake Dubonnet trail camp. I didn't dismount for fear I couldn't get back on. Quz was a little better behaved there than the last time. I seriously think not having the nervous greenies around him helped immensely!!

Break time!

We made good time on the final leg of the ride. The pain in my back was keeping my mind off of the pain in my butt and the pain in my ankle and the headache and the growling stomach (beef jerky only goes so far). We dragged back to the barn at 3 p.m...4 hours after leaving!

You know it's a good ride when you've got foliage stuck in your stirrups!

But I'm quite pleased with both Quz and myself. I stayed calm and relaxed, he stayed (relatively) calm and relaxed. Even when I turned him loose in the pasture, he didn't tear off in a hissy like last time, but loped a few strides before stopping to roll. A vast improvement.

So next time they have a group ride, which should be the last weekend in August...we'll probably go, and hopefully it won't have rained the day before, or else I'm using my jumping saddle!

Good Quzqo

Bad Quzqo