Nice Day for A Trail Ride
I took Chance out for a longish trail ride, all the way back to the farm on the other side of the woods. We trotted a fair bit along the edge of the woods, then walked down the hill and "forded" the mud puddle. He was a little reluctant about getting his feet wet, but certainly not a problem about it.
Then we did a nice long trot along the cornfield with a few strides of canter before pulling up to make the hairpin turn under the high tension electric lines. There we walked again, pleased to find that despite the recent rains, the area is not flooded. The rest of the ride was a walk back through the woods.
The only adventure was when a bow hunter, dressed in full camouflage showed up...or didn't show up, depending on your perception. Chance saw the hunter walking along and alerted. Then the guy stepped off the trail and stood still and according to Chance's vision, sort of disappeared. That had him totally flustered. I asked the hunter to move and Chance spun around to try to run off. But, as the hunter kept on walking, Chance realized he was a human being with an invisible body and all was well. Just goes to show how effective the camouflage gear is to animal eyesight.
Chance was absolutely fine after that, not holding on to a second of his startle and we had an uneventful ride home.
I'd thought about taking Tucker on a trail ride too, but encountering a hunter would be too much for his psyche, so I opted for a short school in the arena. My main concern was that one of his shoes is working its way loose, so I was a bit paranoid.
Still, we did some nice trot work and then several canter sessions, although the first depart on the right was back to the sticky almost bucky thing--although I'd let him get into a low frame, so it might have contributed. Despite all that, he was nice and forward and although I didn't work him very long, it was a good ride.
When I brought Tuck in, I wrapped the loosening shoe foot in duct tape, hoping to discourage that shoe from coming off.
Dinner was served and all seems well at Follywoods.
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glad you found time to ride, jean! interesting to know that camouflage does work, i've never really been sure .. as you say, not one for Tuck!
ReplyDeleteYour encounter with an invisible human made me smile.
ReplyDeleteInvisible humans can be mighty scary - we get that effect when people bend down to work in their vegetable gardens next to the arena and "disappear"!
ReplyDeleteMy winter coveralls are camo print. They were on sale, otherwise I would have chosen a different color. The horses always snort at me when I wear them. No spooking, though. I may look like a floating head to them, but, I'm a floating head carrying a food bucket! *L*
ReplyDeleteGlad you and Chance had a nice ride out. The camo hunter was interesting, I never really thought about invisible people until you mentioned it.
ReplyDeleteDuct tape can fix just about anything. Hope it holds on the shoe.
Interesting about the camouflage gear. Never thought of it. Here you must wear bright yellow or orange jacket for hunting, to make sure nobody will shoot you O_o
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