Our first trail ride!

merleliz · 07-12-2008, 10:16 PM

Well, I finally got to ride Ty on the trails today! And, he wasn't bad! He was basically just following Bita Star on the outward journey, he didn't want to walk over the wooden bridges, but after seeing Bita calmly cross them twice, he followed her and did fine. When we came to the high bridge, and he was really balky, I dismounted and led him across, but he walked across it on the way back. We just walked/trotted, he doesn't have the best trot, not like my sweet Remy did, but it's "sittable", just fast. He doesn't have a great whoa either, but that can be worked on, too. For his first trip, I think he did well.

On the way home, Ty decided he was going to be in the lead. I was totally lost, I've never been there before, and Paul and Bita have, so I had let them lead on the outward journey, not really paying attention to where we were going, and although the trails are marked, there are a lot of places where there are two arrows pointing in opposite directions, but Ty knew the way! He was really funny, at a couple of places, he started sniffing the ground like a bloodhound, and then took off, always in the right direction. At one place, Paul told me to turn right, and Ty wanted to go left, I got him to go on the right hand trail, and a few minutes later, Paul said "You know, he was right, this isn't the way we came, it will lead us back to the trailer, but we did come in on the other trail!"

We had a great time, I feel a lot more confident about him now, he does need a lot of work on his whoa, and our riding instructor said he was "dead sided", he doesn't respond well to leg cues, but she thinks a lot of that is because he was used as a "kid's horse" at a bible camp, and he just got used to kids kicking and kicking at him, legs all over the place, and pulling back on the reins at the same time, so he's learned to ignore leg cues.

For our first ride, it was very good. He didn't buck or rear, he only refused completely once, at the high bridge (wooden bridge with about a 15 foot drop off on either side), and Paul said he had to dismount and walk Bita across it the first few times too! We have a lot of work ahead of us to make him the totally responsive "go where you point his head" horse that I want him to be, but he doesn't get ugly about things, just opinionated!

I was nervous as a long tailed cat in a room full of rocking chairs at first, but we did it, he behaved well, and I'm hoping it will just get better and better as we get to know each other and he learns to trust me more.

ahlihaff · 07-13-2008, 06:21 AM

Well, you and Ty had a very successful first ride. That is wonderful. Sounds like Ty is brave and willing (smart too).

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07-12-2008, 10:16 PM
merleliz Long Yearling Join Date: Nov 2007 Location: Fairburn, Georgia Posts: 1,183	Our first trail ride! Well, I finally got to ride Ty on the trails today! And, he wasn't bad! He was basically just following Bita Star on the outward journey, he didn't want to walk over the wooden bridges, but after seeing Bita calmly cross them twice, he followed her and did fine. When we came to the high bridge, and he was really balky, I dismounted and led him across, but he walked across it on the way back. We just walked/trotted, he doesn't have the best trot, not like my sweet Remy did, but it's "sittable", just fast. He doesn't have a great whoa either, but that can be worked on, too. For his first trip, I think he did well. On the way home, Ty decided he was going to be in the lead. I was totally lost, I've never been there before, and Paul and Bita have, so I had let them lead on the outward journey, not really paying attention to where we were going, and although the trails are marked, there are a lot of places where there are two arrows pointing in opposite directions, but Ty knew the way! He was really funny, at a couple of places, he started sniffing the ground like a bloodhound, and then took off, always in the right direction. At one place, Paul told me to turn right, and Ty wanted to go left, I got him to go on the right hand trail, and a few minutes later, Paul said "You know, he was right, this isn't the way we came, it will lead us back to the trailer, but we did come in on the other trail!" We had a great time, I feel a lot more confident about him now, he does need a lot of work on his whoa, and our riding instructor said he was "dead sided", he doesn't respond well to leg cues, but she thinks a lot of that is because he was used as a "kid's horse" at a bible camp, and he just got used to kids kicking and kicking at him, legs all over the place, and pulling back on the reins at the same time, so he's learned to ignore leg cues. For our first ride, it was very good. He didn't buck or rear, he only refused completely once, at the high bridge (wooden bridge with about a 15 foot drop off on either side), and Paul said he had to dismount and walk Bita across it the first few times too! We have a lot of work ahead of us to make him the totally responsive "go where you point his head" horse that I want him to be, but he doesn't get ugly about things, just opinionated! I was nervous as a long tailed cat in a room full of rocking chairs at first, but we did it, he behaved well, and I'm hoping it will just get better and better as we get to know each other and he learns to trust me more.

07-13-2008, 06:21 AM
ahlihaff Greenbroke Member Join Date: Oct 2007 Location: Western MA Posts: 3,635	Well, you and Ty had a very successful first ride. That is wonderful. Sounds like Ty is brave and willing (smart too).