On the Road Again

With my trailer fixed, I was on the road again for that Monday, now Wednesday, trail ride. 

I had my new trail halter from Knotty Girlz. 

It fit nicely under his bridle. 

When we arrived, my trainer was there with another student. I was able to say hello and get some before-ride tips. Tweed was relaxed (no need for ground work) so she suggested I do some basic collection work in saddle. 

As I was at the mounting block I saw this creepy skeleton hanging on the arena. I was like, is this some kind of voodoo stuff? Yikes. Probably a kid’s toy. 

Anyway, we warmed up and then went out to say hi to friends and get Tweed used to new horses. They are part of the mounted patrol. One of them is a close friend, part of my cowgirl group, and she offered to go out with us. 

I was like, sure! And off we went. 

As usual, Tumbleweed is very confident leading and he keeps up a good trail pace. My friend said she was very surprised it was only his 3rd trail ride this season. 

He balked once, and it was at this stump. (Remember his aversion to freaky stumps?)

I asked her to lead past it. And then we switched back again. 

I took him down a steeper hill that had loose rock to test out the new working length rein and long, straight legs. My friend said that she finds her leg position by lifting her feet from the stirrups and letting her body balance naturally. That worked for me, too. 

Tweed did great, but he is still getting the feel for rocking back and letting that hind end dig in. It will take more practice, but so much better than before. 

Another great ride under our belt and more technical work this time. I’ll just keep building his confidence a little at a time. 

Oh, I almost forgot we came across riders on the trail and he did well with them. 

They had a little mare in the group who stopped in front of Tweed and refused to go forward. I told you he’s the Mare Whisperer. Her rider finally kicked her into gear. 

I am so proud of Tumbleweed. He constantly checks in with me and he has such wonderful trail manners with other horses. He doesn’t freak out or speed up going home. He’s steady Eddie. I just couldn’t be happier to see how he has matured. 

August: The “Thick Paw of My Life”

August

When the blackberries hang
swollen in the woods, in the brambles
nobody owns, I spend

all day among the high
branches, reaching
my ripped arms, thinking

of nothing, cramming
the black honey of summer
into my mouth; all day my body

accepts what it is. In the dark
creeks that run by there is
this thick paw of my life darting among

the black bells, the leaves; there is
this happy tongue. (Mary Oliver)

I did not make it out on a Monday beat-the-heat trail ride. During our weekend water excursions our trailer connection developed an issue and a warning light came on, shutting down other aspects of the truck. So, Monday morning brought a trip to the dealership to get it fixed. (It was a loose wire.)

Since it was a blazing hot day here in the Northwest, I was okay with that. 

I’m not a summer person, but this has been a fun-filled August. Until this week it has been relatively mild and smoke free. (They are predicting smoke from Oregon coming in today though, ugh). 

I realize I haven’t shared photos of myself much, so here is one from Sunday (a selfie) and you can see my husband’s head in my sunglasses. We took the waverunners up to Metaline Falls and checked out four waterfalls, one of them being the magnificent Peewee Falls. 

This next photo was Friday on Lake Roosevelt by Whitestone Rock. We call our waverunners Seahorse 1 and Seahorse 2. Haha. 

Another fun August development is the maturing of our grandson. He is now able to join us at restaurants and converse. He can even order his own food and show appreciation to the staff. He is developing impeccable manners. So, that means we get to stop and eat after all our adventures. You know, do grownup stuff. 

Here he is trying fried pickles in Davenport, WA after our Lake Roosevelt trip. 

He has loved our water adventures. When we’re all together we call ourselves the Four Musketeers, and speaking of four…he will turn four in October. I’ve always called that the golden year. It kind of all comes together and they can do so much more for themselves. 

—-

I was thinking about my last lesson with Tweed, trotting downhill, and realize how wise it was for my trainer to concentrate on that since, on past trail rides, Tweed has picked up speed downhill to catch up with a lead horse. There were 3 things she wanted to accomplish: 

1. His balance and attention.

2. Checking his speed without pulling on the reins.

3. Exposure to what it feels like to carry himself at a different gait, in case he does it organically on a ride. When they pick up another gait their energy can come up, too, causing you to lose your connection. 

——

So, here’s to August 2025 and all the blessings it has opened up to us. 

(Random August happenings)

Metaline Falls 

Peewee Falls

Lake Roosevelt 

My barn garden

The summer “volunteers”

A trail ride

Fly Away Little Birdies

I had a day off from babysitting yesterday, so I met my trainer early to beat the heat. We worked on the same things we did last time, balance on hills and checking speed and attention going down hills without over handling the reins and getting in his way. 

Going down hill I was to sit back, hold the working length steady and low, at the D-rings, and check his speed by lengthening my leg, squeezing the inside of my legs, and making a V of the reins. 

We practiced it on flat ground first, and I had to correct my legs since they were moving slightly forward. They needed to truly go straight down and in line with my hips. When I squeezed with the inside of my legs, Tweed was confused and thought I wanted him to run. When I checked his speed and he figured out what it all meant, he totally got it and slowed down from trot to walk. We put it to the test on hills at a walk, and even though there was a lot of coming and going of cars and an ATV hauling a maintenance wagon, Tweed did great. 

We then moved it up to a trot that began on the flat bluff above the hill, then rounded and right down the hill at the same trot. Tweed picked himself up and slowed himself down, but maintained the gait. It felt like I was floating down it since his power remained in his engine which gave him much more balance and control. 

He did so marvelously well that we ended it there. Regina said it is unlikely I will be asking for him to trot down hills like that, but if he ever has to it is better that he is confident and been exposed to it. She said he is doing great and well prepared now for trail riding. 

Fly away little birdies. Time to leave the nest. 

 

That afternoon we took the “seahorses” to Lake Roosevelt to visit our favorite spot: Whitestone Rock. 

I don’t have babysitting duty Monday, although there is a heat warning in effect of 100 degrees. My hope is to get up early and do a solo ride before the heat sets in.

Once this heat wave passes, we should be out of the woods and ready for lots of beautiful fall rides.

Re-Creating the Conditions

If you’re following along with my latest posts about first trail rides, on our last ride Tweed lost his attention at the equestrian camp ground and hill past it.  From now on, my lessons with Regina will be covering what bubbles up on those rides, so we met at that same campground and re-created the scenarios. 

As I parked across from the campground and saddled up, Tweed was agitated and wanted to eat grass (distraction), but after Regina arrived, we warmed up in the meadow doing those basic attention exercises—as soon as he lost focus on the circle I turned him in towards me—at walk and trot. The ground was uneven, so he had to pay attention to his balance. 

We then moved to a hill and did the same thing. Tweed was agitated at the trot because it required that he give it 💯 of his attention, which he wanted to divide between me and a big group of horses heading out. He didn’t do anything big, but I’m glad I wasn’t riding it. 

When we had him relaxed at the trot in a circle on the hill, I bridled him and we went back to the hill to do the same work in saddle. 

Key points: 

Going downhill I was to hold my hands very low, working length reins, and give him freedom to move, mostly using my legs to guide him. 

Going uphill, I posted the trot because he wanted to either walk or lope, and my hands were still working length, low, but I was to give him his head and only check his speed with my body and the demands of the hill.

When we had that going well, we went a bit further out to another hill and worked on descending in vertical lines. For that, I did need to ask for direction with the rein aid, but the goal was to use inside leg and push his hind quarters over with a steady working length rein. 

Something in the meadow had him on high alert, and then that big group of riders came by at a distance. Regina just had me stick to it—trust the process—and he mellowed out. 

We rode back to the trailer over the same hills, which he did very well, then ended it on a positive note. 

I was really happy that all the same things that happened on the trail also happened in today’s lesson and Regina gave me tools to work through them. We’re going to do the same work the next time we meet until he is rock solid. 

I am so lucky to have a trainer willing to meet us—literally—where we’re at!

Fear of Riding the Trails

I have a ride coming up next week with a woman who takes lessons from my same trainer and is a seasoned and accomplished horsewoman. Her horse, from everything I’ve seen, is a pretty solid guy. 

The issue is that in her later life she has developed a bit of a phobia of riding the trails. It’s partially due to silly things other people have done on rides and / or the difficulty in finding someone to ride with that is willing to do whatever it takes to make it successful. It is also, like in my case, a new trail horse for her, thus a new adventure. 

Whether or not it materializes is yet to be seen, but I assured her I would help it be successful. It can be short and sweet or whatever she wants it to be. I even told her I have no issue getting off and walking them, if she feels the need. In fact, I often dismount in unpredictable places so that Tumbleweed never associates the trailer with the end of a ride. 

We’re going to meet with our trainer beforehand and do some work together in a more contained environment, then head out.

I share her concerns, so fully get where she is coming from. I’ve been on rides with people who did dangerous things and it’s not fun. 

I am the boring stickler: don’t run them up hills or back to the trailer and, honestly, don’t do anything that the whole group isn’t comfortable with first. I don’t like to see people “let big things go,” as it is often a precursor to their horse getting naughtier. At the same time, I don’t like to tell people how to handle their own horses. It’s a conundrum that comes with riding out in groups.

What are your own experiences and thoughts about this topic?