A few weekends ago I took Eeyore out to one of my favorite trail systems to a) test out the Aussie on a larger and harder ride b) test out Eeyore’s behavior on the trail and c) begin his fall boot camp to get back in a shape other than round. He did perfect, never putting a hoof wrong over the course of the 6 miles we explored.
Last weekend I secured my mum to watch Wyatt and loaded up both chestnut boys to hit the same trail with the hubby. I didn’t want my first trail experience with Hamilton, and the first time I’d ridden him in four months, to be solo. I also wasn’t keen on the idea of loaning out Eeyore to someone new as the thought of trying to make sure they were fine while dealing with Hamilton for my first time wasn’t appealing. Fortunately the Hubby was up for the ride.
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I adore this picture. It sums up their personalities so well. Eeyore in the back with that dumb look on his face and forward happy ears. Hamilton not ready to put up with this shit and wanting to go back to bed. It’s perfection. |
Folks….I’m having a hard time putting words to this outing.
From the start Hamilton was PERFECT. He loaded without a fuss, stood tied to the trailer like a gentleman, and marched off to the woods as if he does this every day. The next 6 miles didn’t change that.
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Heading past the arena to get to the trail. So much to looks at. Hamilton preferred to walk beside Eeyore so he could pretend he was upfront without needing to be the leader. |
We marched off through primitive camping to enter the woods which immediately goes uphill past an old, creepy cemetery. From there the trail heads sharply down to cross the lake via a narrow raised path. To the left is a giant drain and the the right is the river into which the drain dumps water from the lake. It is loud. It is scary. I had to hand walk Gem past it every single outing for years. Neither boy batted an eye.
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The drain. It is loud. Gem hated it with a passion. Neither boy cared. |
The trail then heads steeply uphill, a fact Eeyore made us aware of by repeatedly stopping and looking back down, until it crests by an old cabin before turning into glorious sandy single track for several miles.
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Dusty hasn’t ridden on trail in close to 8 years. It was like he never missed a beat. He got along really well with Eeyore too which was nice. |
Beyond being out of breath at the top of the climb, both boys handled all of this like seasoned pros instead of the newbies they really are.
This is the section where life gets good. It is the absolute perfect conditions for trotting at speed. We urged the boys onward picking up a lovely trot that carried us down the winding single track while a smile split my face that remained for the rest of the ride.
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The fact I took my hands off the reins to take pictures is very telling. Most of the ride was on the buckle too. He is such a good boy. |
The trail eventually goes up to a TV station building then ducks back down a rocky outcropping at the rather point of the loop. We picked our way down the rocks without either horse slipping or sliding.
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The ground is basically one large boulder you walk across. |
This folks, this part of this trail that takes a solid 45-50 minutes and a lot of climbing to reach…this is my favorite section of trail ever. The trail widens just enough to look like a small lane. The footing is bereft of rock and root, is mildly sandy with a thin layer of leaves and/or pine needles, and the entire trail is ever so slightly uphill. There are no offshoot trails for surprise guests. It is the perfect place to gallop.
I’d love to say we galloped our hearts out but the truth is that Eeyore is fat and Hamilton is young without the conditioning for such things. Both horses were feeling the effort of making it this far over technical and hilly trail and we still had half the ride to go. We did open them up but we kept it to a controlled canter in short bursts with trotting and walk breaks.
The very moment I asked Hamilton to canter he floated above the ground, perked up and flew. I had no fear. I had no worries. I had no thoughts at all. I haven’t felt like that since I was flying down the trail in Acadia Maine my junior year of high school on my favorite of my Aunt’s horses. It was freedom. It was perfection.
After that moment we let them walk a long ways to cool down and catch their breath. There is a short downhill section followed by some flat trail leading to a large bridge. Eeyore never minds bridges so I knew he’d go right over but as far as I’m aware Hamilton has never seen a bridge before. He took a long stare at it but never stopped his forward momentum to march across.
From there it is a long uphill slog back to the camp. Eeyore was hot, tired and done by this point. Hamilton was getting tired as well but was still enjoying it so he plowed ahead. I giggled the remaining mile back! Eeyore was so so so pissed behind Hamilton. His ears, always forward in life, pinned back as he shook his head side to side. Dusty made fun of him and kept him behind Hamilton. Eeyore tired to trot past any chance he could but Dusty wouldn’t let him.
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One unhappy Eeyore. Heheheheh. |
Hamilton led quite a ways until we came upon a hiker. He came to a polite stop to stare at the man holding a walking stick and then craned his neck back and look at Eeyore as if to say “Hey, it’s your turn to lead again”. I snorted I laughed so hard!
Eeyore plowed ahead haughtily and led the rest of the way back to the trailer. We undressed the boys. Eeyore was soaked (happy to note perfectly even sweat makes - yay!) so I led him to the hose a short walk away though you’d have though I was leading him to slaughter the way he acted leaving Hamilton. He settled quickly though once I reminded him who was in charge. Hamilton had barely any sweat beyond the saddle which unfortunately left bare marks and me back sore so I’m on the hunt for a solution for him. He stood waiting patiently at the trailer for our return.
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This horse. |
Folks. I can’t. This day was so absolutely perfect in every way I can’t even handle it. Riding with the hubby again. Perfect trail and weather, perfect horses. It was everything.