# Recent Trail Rides anyone?



## jemmamalone (Feb 4, 2009)

_Aww them pictures are so cute. I always love seeing pictures through the horses ears. _
_I had a wheel cover on my 4X4 once that said _
_*'The air of heaven is that which blows between the horses ears'* _
_I think its true. _


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## Mingiz (Jan 29, 2009)

Nice pics. We haven't be able to ride, still getting over 6+inches of rain. But hopefully we'll get out this weekend. But it's suppose to start raining again tonight.....:evil:


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## Wallaby (Jul 13, 2008)

Awesome pictures!
I'm envious of how flat and open it is where you are...I think if I was there I'd be too all together too much cantering because that's what you do here, any flat open area = cantering/galloping. haha 

I haven't been able to go on a trail ride in a while. =( I don't have anyone to go with and I don't feel comfortable taking Lacey out very far by herself because she gets really explosive (which would probably be solved by taking her out more but since I'm scared of what she might do I don't think that'll help solve the issue, haha).


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## jemmamalone (Feb 4, 2009)

Wallaby said:


> Awesome pictures!
> I'm envious of how flat and open it is where you are...I think if I was there I'd be too all together too much cantering because that's what you do here, any flat open area = cantering/galloping. haha
> 
> I haven't been able to go on a trail ride in a while. =( I don't have anyone to go with and I don't feel comfortable taking Lacey out very far by herself because she gets really explosive (which would probably be solved by taking her out more but since I'm scared of what she might do I don't think that'll help solve the issue, haha).


Do you have any other 'safe' horses you can tke out with her. 
Im not to sure how you ride but sometimes if you dont feel safe taking one horse out on her own coz she is a little fizzy then maybe take another horse with you and lead rein that horse whilst riding the one thts fizzy. The safe horse will help calm down the one with issues and will also usually put her in her place if she starts acting up. That way you have a little security taking her out on her own. 
And remember to have fun riding her else it will always be something to worry about and not to look forward to


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## Wallaby (Jul 13, 2008)

jemmamalone said:


> Do you have any other 'safe' horses you can tke out with her.
> Im not to sure how you ride but sometimes if you dont feel safe taking one horse out on her own coz she is a little fizzy then maybe take another horse with you and lead rein that horse whilst riding the one thts fizzy. The safe horse will help calm down the one with issues and will also usually put her in her place if she starts acting up. That way you have a little security taking her out on her own.
> And remember to have fun riding her else it will always be something to worry about and not to look forward to


Yeah, see her bff who was the horse that I would have felt completely comfortable doing that with was put down a few months ago.=( All the other horses at Lacey's house are either really spooky and friends with Lacey or ones that would be calm but would be an issue with Lacey (since she's a low man on the totem pole). =( I used to do that a bunch with her bff though and it worked really well. 
Oh yeah, I have tons of fun riding her, most of the time. Haha 

Good idea though! =D This summer Lacey and I are going to be working at a camp with lots of trails so hopefully I'll be able to get her out on her own pretty often and help her be more comfortable with being on her own, then we can return to the issue of roads (since she's pretty good on an actual trail but not so much on roads, what a weirdo) once we get back home.


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## BaliDoll (Sep 21, 2009)

I don't have any photos, but on a whim I went on a little adventure yesterday. Now, before people tell me I am an idiot for going alone and everything, I do know it wasn't the *best* judgment call on my part, but Bali is really solid- more so when other horses aren't around in fact... which is a great trait, as y'all are talking about up there. I enjoy that he doesn't have to be with other horses to feel safe out there, I am enough.  (and he's brave and loves adventure! heehee) It was only a 40 minute ride.

I went with a bareback pad on this trail that I had never taken (yes see this is that part that was dumb, but I am a good rider, he's a good horse, and people knew we were going!) off the back of our boarding barn. He was excellent and I was THRILLED!! It wasn't the most gorgeous ride, we're in southern california so after about 10 minutes I was behind a subdivision of ugly houses, but it was very hilly, windey, and rocky, so it was a good work out for him.  He didn't flinch once.... actually, it was funny because some birds flew out of a tree and I got scared and he sorta just stopped and put his ears back like he was making sure I was okay! hahaha <3 i love my horse!

I want to take him out a lot more... he was a show horse for most of his early life, but he's so quiet yet curious that I think he would make a great trail horse now that showing is out of the question....


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## kiwigirl (Sep 30, 2009)

Hey Balidoll, why would anyone take issue with you riding on your own? I ride on my own all the time. Some of my best rides are on my own, I can decide where I am going, how far and how fast - I love it. I think it is great that you got out on your own!


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## QOS (Dec 8, 2008)

Thanks for sharing the pictures. It looks like the coastal plains of SE Texas! 

I wish I was brave enough to ride out on my own. I am working on that. and I am talking in the back of the ranch - not to a strange place! Working on it!


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## BaliDoll (Sep 21, 2009)

I am saying that because a lot of people at my barn judge me for it, I think they are jealous, but they say it's really dangerous and irresponsible because if something were to happen to me, or my horse, I'd be alone. I'd obviously not go out miles and miles from home, or not tell anyone where I was going. My horse is the most broke horse at the barn, too, so I think they are jealous  haha! They also criticize me for riding him bareback with just a halter from the pasture to the barn.... *sigh*


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## MyGalSal (Apr 8, 2009)

*CT Trails/Trail Riding*

Wow.....those pictures are beautiful. In CT we have State Parks and Recreational trails that are open to horses. It's not as easy to find wide open spaces like you have! You are really very fortunate. There aren't many riders that are comfortable leaving the comfort of their arenas, etc. 

Happy Trails!


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## kiwigirl (Sep 30, 2009)

Golly balidoll! Sounds like the people at your barn need to open up a big can of 'lighten up'! I have been riding on my own since I was six, not only that but I didn't have a saddle untill I was 15 so I was riding on my own and bareback from a young age. And I don't mean riding around the front paddock, I mean out and about, down the beach, across neighbours farms, jumping stuff. It has only been in the last two years that I have had the luxury of people to ride with.

Here in NZ we don't have barns. When I first started on this forum it took me a while to work out the terminology ie BM and BO. These are foriegn concepts to me. Also the fact that everyone refers to their trainer. I had never heard of that before either. The thought of having a bunch of other people looking over my shoulder judging everything that I did with my horse would drive me insane. I live on the basis that sometimes the only thing that stops you achieveing things is other people telling you that you can't do it. 

I think I have a natural aversion to too many rules. And if you want to see me achieve something then tell me I can't do it! I was a pretty free spirit as a kid and that has definitely carried over into my adulthood, I am pretty sure I would be kicked out of your barn LOL!

If you feel confidant about riding out on your own just do it. Yes, accidents may happen, personnaly I choose to think that accidents are the exception, not the rule. Therefore I don't live my life in fear of the worst happening.


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## kiwigirl (Sep 30, 2009)

PS here is a pic of one place I ride on my own


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## jemmamalone (Feb 4, 2009)

Wow that picture is really amazing. 
I bet you love being able to go for a nice relaxing ride and looking at the scenery


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## MN Tigerstripes (Feb 20, 2009)

Good god, Kiwigirl, I am completely jealous of you. Can I fly Soda down and come riding?  

Balidoll I ride by myself too and have been doing it from a young age. Still ride bareback most of the time and I spend plenty of time riding in a lead rope halter combo. As long as people know where you're going no biggie. Sounds to me like they're worriers...


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## Painted Horse (Dec 29, 2006)

Hey Kiwi, those terms you are trying to puzzle out usually apply to higher population areas. Where folks don't keep their horses in back of their house.

I don't know anybody who boards their horse. All my friends and horsey acquaintences keep their horses in the back yard or down the street in the pasture. So it depends on where people live, if they board their horses. Many homes in suburban neighborhood are located on 1/4 , 1/3 or 1/2 building lots. Land prices around major cities have exploded over the past 10 years. 

Add to this, many people commute into a job in the city. They work a 40+ hour week and spend 1 hour driving to and another hour driving home from work. So they want the freedom, to choose not to have to take care of their horse everyday. They let the Barn Owner where they board take care and they come ride on weekends.

Same goes with trainers. The only trainer I ever had was my friends telling me to keep up. I'll go out on a limb here and suggest ( and put my flame suit on) that you will see more trainers in the English disaplines, ie. dressage, hunter, jumper. Kids here in the west grow up watching dad rope steers, ride saddle bronc, or push cows and their dad or big brother helps them learn the sport. Hence I guess you could say their Dad is their Trainer.

Those of us here in the west, usually go to a Rodeo, barrel race, team penning, cutting etc with our horse, These are speed, power and working horse events. I never shave the whiskers or feathers off my horse. He is lucky to get his tail combed out. Those in other parts of the country go to horse shows and display the finese of their horses. ie Dressage, Halter

I say this in very general terms, There are exceptions and cross overs in all parts of the country. Reining is a western style of riding and has gained great popularity and shows off the training of the horse more than the sheer speed or power

Back to the original discussion. I do ride alone frequently. I think my horse learns more when I take them out by theirself. They have to focus on me and trust me. So tell the Barn Owner where you will be riding and go out and enjoy.


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## BaliDoll (Sep 21, 2009)

Wow, I am so jealous of where you all get to ride.... I will have to take a picture of the ugliness that is where I get to ride... hahaha! At least on the trai. The arenas themselves have *gorgeous* views but as soon as you get across the first hill on the trail you are above a row of yucky track homes. And, thank you for the support guys. Almost everyone at my barn is a arena dressage rider, with VERY expensive horses, tack, clothing, etc etc.... so I am the minority, with a few others, and they just *do not get me* for the most part. heehee. My place has people who tack up your horse if you request, so that you can just pull into the parking lot, put on boots, ride, and go back to your car without having to do any *real* horse activities. It's kind of disgusting.
ALL THAT ASIDE! I love riding the trail, my horse is so curious and adventurous, I'd like to become better friends with this man who trailers out to go on better rides pretty often and tag along!


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## kiwigirl (Sep 30, 2009)

Thanks for the info painted horse. I guess as the population of NZ grows the kind of situation that you are talking about will slowly become the norm here. Although not so much in the region that I live in which is primarily dairy farming. I think that is why I never had anyone else around to ride with or anyone who was even interested in horses. Dairy farmers here do not like non productive animals and as far as cow cocky's are concerned you don't get much more non productive than a horse!LOL

I think there probably are stables and trainers here, as you say, closer to the bigger city centres, but I think they are focused more on high level competitive/performance, eventing, dressage etc. A little out of my league.

Off topic, I am hoping to convince my friend to go with me down to the beach this weekend. If I can get down there I must remember to take the camera so I can show you all some pics of our west coast black sand beaches.

Another outstanding pic by the way painted horse! Always a pleasure to chat with you.


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## Jessica07 (Nov 16, 2009)

Well, a group from my barn is currently on a 3 month/800 mile trail ride from Utah to Mexico.

They have a blog that they update every couple days via satellite.

It's pretty neat, so check it out 
A Centaur's Journey


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## MN Tigerstripes (Feb 20, 2009)

Painted Horse, I agree (in general) about trainers/BOs/BMs. When I lived in the city/suburbs almost everyone boarded and had a trainer. I'm out in the "country", such that it is in MN less than an hour from the cities, and most people keep their horses in their backyards. There are still a decent amount of boarding stables in the area. The crappy thing for us is there isn't a lot of riding unless you want to ride on the road or trailer somewhere. Farmers get real worried about giving permission to ride on their land (liability issues). It's still nice to look out the window and see the horses sitting in the paddock. 

I'll take some pics of where I get to ride this weekend...  Then you'll all feel sorry for me :-( and invite me to come riding where you are! LOL


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## ChevyPrincess (Aug 27, 2009)

Wow! pretty mountains guys! I love it! And I wish it was coastal Texas! I want to go riding along the ocean beach so bad!! And up in the mountains. We have "mountains" here but they are actually just large hills. haha.


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## jemmamalone (Feb 4, 2009)

I wanna ride along the beach too. 
I think it must be one of the best riding experiances.


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## Gutzzyhorse (Jul 29, 2009)

*funny trail ride*

** First off, no one got hurt! **

Last weekend, my husband and I took our horses to Brown County in Indiana. We don't get to ride much together, so I always am the worry wart about him being safe... As he is fiddling with a lead rope that had worked itself loose I made a comment about keeping the reins handy, there was not hardly any riders so the deer could be out and running around. His horse Mikki is a new trail horse, a gentle giant, one of the best buys in the world but he was somebody's show horse (I can't figure out why but he was) so he is limited on trail experience. My horse, Hawk, will go anywhere was full of energy and wanted to go go go! 

So on we ride... Then we meet Murphy (yes Murphy's law rode with us). We are working on getting the boys to ride side by side so we can talk and not yell at each other about how beautiful it was, but how we had not seen any wildlife. I was turned a bit to the left because Mikki had fallen back a bit and I completely missed the deer raising out of the leaves (that part in the Great Pumpkin comes to mind) and bounding away to the right. Mikki didn't miss it, he rapidly exited stage left back toward camp, Hawk stopped, looked at the deer, and realized Mikki was running away... So he exited stage right (he has the most beautiful rollbacks) to join the race. remember I mentioned I was looking left... your body goes the way you look, I found a lovely piece of mud just off the trail. Joe had Mikki stopped in a couple of strides so Hawk was looking very disappointed there was no race, and dejectedly walked up as if to say... Hey what in the world are you doing down there? We were going to race and you ruined it! 

After checking for major injury (there was none, I am fine just a couple of bruises) Joe has been teasing me ever since about how I felt the need to demonstrate the perils of not paying attention. No more deer scares, we did see a couple more but I had a hold of my reins this time! :lol:


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## Gutzzyhorse (Jul 29, 2009)

BaliDoll said:


> Wow, I am so jealous of where you all get to ride.... I will have to take a picture of the ugliness that is where I get to ride... hahaha! At least on the trai. The arenas themselves have *gorgeous* views but as soon as you get across the first hill on the trail you are above a row of yucky track homes. And, thank you for the support guys. Almost everyone at my barn is a arena dressage rider, with VERY expensive horses, tack, clothing, etc etc.... so I am the minority, with a few others, and they just *do not get me* for the most part. heehee. My place has people who tack up your horse if you request, so that you can just pull into the parking lot, put on boots, ride, and go back to your car without having to do any *real* horse activities. It's kind of disgusting.
> ALL THAT ASIDE! I love riding the trail, my horse is so curious and adventurous, I'd like to become better friends with this man who trailers out to go on better rides pretty often and tag along!


Hey, that's how a lot of my friends became friends. We didn't all have trailers so when ever a group was going for a day ride we would post a note if we had an extra spot in a trailer. When I was boarding I got to go to shows, fox hunting and clinics, things I never thought I'd enjoy. I learned alot, had a great time and meet some cool people! Now I have my horses in my back yard in side the city limits. I miss having people around but I am sitting at my computer watching my boys being silly right now.


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## Painted Horse (Dec 29, 2006)

Well it's cold and grey around here. Winter has arrived. We get out and ride. Just put on an extra jacket and pair of chaps or ******.


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## thunderhooves (Aug 9, 2009)

^^ beautiful!


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## Britt (Apr 15, 2008)

Nice looking pics...

Since it's hunting season, and a lot of people out here hunt, I don't ride the trails very often until the hunting season is over.


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## MN Tigerstripes (Feb 20, 2009)

^^ Me too Britt. I don't even ride off property during deer season.


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## 7Ponies (May 21, 2009)

I don't go very far because my farm is surrounded by highway that I won't cross, but I did go for a fun little jaunt in the woods today, first time in a LONG time I've been trail riding. Gandy did very well, picking her way over downed timber and tree limbs. I had to duck more than once, or flatten myself to her neck as we went under tree branches, but it sure was fun!

I wish I had more trails close by and someone to ride with, but it's usually just me and Gandy and putzing around the property (15 acres).


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## jemmamalone (Feb 4, 2009)

7ponies... im glad you had a good ride 
At least you have 15 acres of land to ride on. At one point i was at this one yard where it was right by the highway on one side and then main roads all around it, so it was very hard to get out on a safe ride. 
Your horse is pretty too


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## totalfreedom (Nov 23, 2009)

Painted Horse

In that picture, is that to the northwest of morgan? I just keep looking at that picture and it looks like I've been there many times.


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## Painted Horse (Dec 29, 2006)

Yep!. That's the east side of Weber Canyon. I am riding on the bench there looking west across Mountain Green.


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## totalfreedom (Nov 23, 2009)

Went for a mountain ride today for a few hours. Here's some pictures.


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## jemmamalone (Feb 4, 2009)

wow them pictures are stunning


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## gypsygirl (Oct 15, 2009)

^^WOW where are you from ? those pics are gorgeous =D

i went on a trail ride in the snow bareback with a halter & rope today too, but my area is not nearly as pretty !!


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## totalfreedom (Nov 23, 2009)

^^ I live in southern idaho in between albion and malta. If one were to look at the google maps and imagine a line connecting the two towns you can see the mountain I'm riding on right in between. I live at the base of the mountain on the albion side. I've been googling the satelite view maps looking for lakes up there. But I don't think this mountain has any.

I enjoy those pictures of my dog. I love seeing his ears flop like that. It always makes me smile.

It's kinda cool we were both riding bareback in halters in the snow today. I enjoy coincidences. But I'll bet lots of people were doing just the same.


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## Painted Horse (Dec 29, 2006)

I used to come up to Malta a lot. a friend had an 1100acre farm in Malta. They grew grain and hay that they trucked back down here for their dairy. I used to make a hay run with him to go pick up a load of hay occassionally. After loading the hay on the semi, we used to shoot a few pheasants and ducks.

They sold the farm a frew years ago, So I haven't been back up.


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## kiwigirl (Sep 30, 2009)

I am sorry to lower the tone of this thread but I am officially depressed. We had our official first day of summer on dec 1st and it hasn't stopped raining! If it isn't raining we have had mist that is so thick you can't see more than 10 feet in front of you. *sigh* No horse riding for me. Even when we do get a break in the weather it is so wet under foot that it is not worth trying to ride.

I did get down the beach with my friend a couple of weeks ago but it turned into a comedy of errors and we ended up only having 15 minutes on the beach itself. Basically Phoenix had time to look around and go "huh" and then it was time to leave.

Man this weather is depressing!


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## MN Tigerstripes (Feb 20, 2009)

I'm sorry about the rain... but you're in SUMMER!!! I'm jealous, we just got the first nastiness of winter. High temps in the 10s during the day and below zero at night. Ick ick ick.

I hope your rain stops soon though so you can go out and take more pics!


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## Mingiz (Jan 29, 2009)

We finally got a ride in......


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## luvmyqh (Dec 10, 2009)

wow great pics all!! i got out in november to horsemanscamp we have here in wisconsin!!


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## dashygirl (Nov 21, 2006)

I love all of the leaves!!


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## luvmyqh (Dec 10, 2009)

ya....lol it was a very noisey ride!!


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