[carshon]

Looking forward to seeing your posts! I know this may have been said before but my hubby learned to ride by "riding" and had some not so great experiences. He started taking lessons a couple of years ago and LOVES it! If you could find a place to take lessons I think you and Ona will be on your way in no time.

 

[weeedlady]

subbing to follow your adventures. I'm also a trail rider and fairly new.
Looking forward to your updates and pictures.
Martha

 

[newtrailriders]

Thanks Carshon! I have taken some lessons and I’m already enjoying riding much more after learning a few things. I definitely plan to take more lessons! Just got a big raise at work today and planning to put most of that toward horse related stuff every month

 

[phantomhorse13]

Congrats on the raise!

 

[codyandelmer11]

Beautiful horses! I to am more of a newbie. Married a guy that had been riding horses since he was ten and that’s how I finally got my own horse [emoji6] My husband doesn’t ride anymore so I’m on my own. The palomino, Cody, I have is bomb proof and before him I rode my father in laws mare who was also bomb proof. I’ve “rode” for 10 years but only on super broke horses. So not to experienced with riding really. Nice to meet you!

 

[newtrailriders]

subbing to follow your adventures. I'm also a trail rider and fairly new.
Looking forward to your updates and pictures.
Martha

Beautiful horses! I to am more of a newbie. Married a guy that had been riding horses since he was ten and that’s how I finally got my own horse [emoji6] My husband doesn’t ride anymore so I’m on my own. The palomino, Cody, I have is bomb proof and before him I rode my father in laws mare who was also bomb proof. I’ve “rode” for 10 years but only on super broke horses. So not to experienced with riding really. Nice to meet you!

I hope to hear about both of your adventures, too! Hopefully we can laugh and cry together - with lots more laughing than crying.

I was kind of excited about the prospect of going riding today at Shawnee Mission Park. It's supposed to be about 7 miles of pleasant, easy riding. The trail goes around the outside of the park. I'm learning not to ever get my hopes up too much when it comes to riding, because more often than not something goes wrong and we can't go. Today we absolutely could not find the designated parking area for horse trailers. We drove around and around that blasted park looking for trailer parking and I swear - I got claustrophobia seeing all the cars and thinking about how many people were in that park. I bet there were 1000 people there. Oh my goodness - city people don't have many choices of places to go to get "close to nature." They had hammocks strung up in trees right next to the park roads. I can't imagine going through the trouble to string up a hammock in a "nature" area that's less natural than our back yard LOL

We finally just gave up and came back home. I found out where the parking is and how to get on the trail and we'll try again on Tuesday. I just want to get used to riding the horses in a place that's not steep rocky hills and washouts. Hopefully it won't be so busy on a weekday because I imagine cyclists and disc golfers would be just as nervewracking as a more difficult trail would be. That's something the horses should probablyl get used to though.

 

[weeedlady]

I always take my Honda Civic and find the trailer parking area before I take my truck and trailer. That way I can plan my route and know exactly where I'm going and that I can get in and out. If I didn't do that, I would be a nervous wreck.
Hope your ride on Tuesday goes well. Riding during the week is always better..fewer people, less traffic, more fun.

 

[laffysapphy]

All three of your horses are gorgeous, I'm excited to follow this!

 

[evilamc]

I always take my Honda Civic and find the trailer parking area before I take my truck and trailer. That way I can plan my route and know exactly where I'm going and that I can get in and out. If I didn't do that, I would be a nervous wreck.
Hope your ride on Tuesday goes well. Riding during the week is always better..fewer people, less traffic, more fun.

Pfft thats what google maps and satellite view is for! I always check out where I'm going on google maps first LOL! Gives me a good idea of what I'm getting into parking wise.

Can't wait to read about your adventures!

 

[weeedlady]

Pfft thats what google maps and satellite view is for! I always check out where I'm going on google maps first LOL! Gives me a good idea of what I'm getting into parking wise.

Can't wait to read about your adventures!

^^ I am old and technologically challenged. :wink:

 

[newtrailriders]

Google Maps was no help with this one! Will have to check things out with the Prius in the future!

 

[horseylover1_1]

Subbing to read about your adventures. Btw, Ona is beautiful! I've always loved cremellos.

 

[newtrailriders]

Subbing to read about your adventures. Btw, Ona is beautiful! I've always loved cremellos.

Thanks! I feel that she's beautiful DESPITE being a cremello LOL. I'm not partial to them but fell in love with her when she was a baby. She was such a cute little affectionate curious thing.

 

[newtrailriders]

Yay we did it. We loaded up both the geldings, found the trail parking and went for a great ride! Yes we accidentally ended up on the dog walking trail and rode into the dog park, but we met nice people! Hubby did get his face scratched by thorns but it gives him a nice rustic cowboy look. He rode Joe for the first time and loves him, and I love PJ. Hubby is sold on riding again ASAP

 

[newtrailriders]

Just three miles yesterday after the ten we rode on Sunday. PJ seemed a little more stubborn and I didn’t know if maybe he was a little sore. I picked 5 engorged ticks off him yesterday, 3 on Sunday. The vet said the risks of the Lyme vaccine outweigh the benefits so I didn’t get it for hIm. I hope that was the best decision.

Hubby is having a blast and is addicted. He’s planning to ride Joe while I’m at work tomorrow. Joe gaited more for him yesterday which of course meant more trotting and cantering on PJ. I do not like cantering on PJ yet. The transition from trot to canter scares me. I’m afraid I will get bounced off. Joe cantered a little and of course it was super smooth.

 

[newtrailriders]

We had such a fun ride today. Still only went 5 miles, but did more hills and went a little faster. The horses were more energetic and wanted to go faster today so we went with it. We put Joe (the foxtrotter) in front of PJ (quarter horse) so that picked up the average pace a bit. I was a little scared when PJ decided he wanted to gallop full speed up a couple of steep hills but I figured I'd just go with it and learn how to ride better. I didn't fall off and I guess it can't get much rougher than that so I'll be OK on him no matter what, hopefully. Both horses jumped a ditch and nobody fell off. Joe did quite a bit of cantering and DH enjoyed it. By the end of the ride I noticed I wasn't holdng onto anything when he was going at a fst trot, there wasn't much weight in my stirrups, and I was hving fun and not feeling like I was going to fall off. So I guess that means I'm balancing better.

Ona will be coming back either the 26th or New Years Day. I must confess I'm not really that excited about her coming home. It's been kind of nice without her. PJ and Joe aren't the slightest bit buddy sour and there's no drama at all. Now she's going to be back and I hope she and PJ don't get as sour as they were before, and that PJ and Joe won't start fighting. Plus once she gets back I'll have to ride her to keep her from getting unbroke again . . . . and the days are so short and we can already only go riding twice week . . . . ugh. I've enjoyed riding without being afraid.

 

[mmshiro]

I didn't fall off and I guess it can't get much rougher than that so I'll be OK on him no matter what, hopefully.

It's those sudden lateral moves you need to watch out for, like when there is a discoloration in the ground. I have had a mule going around a patch of differently colored grass once...at the canter. There is also a dirt road that got washed out during the rain storms this year, so while the horse is finding the best way to get up, you get the one or other left-right-left hop...in mid-canter.

Horses can also stop surprisingly quickly, like when you get around a turn and there is some brushwork blocking the trail.

Jussayin...

 

[egrogan]

I love how honest you were in your description about Ona coming back. Do you think the people who have been working with her, or your friend who got you in touch with them, could help you find a new home for her? I totally understand what you mean about finding riding fun when it's not scary! So why put yourself back in that place?

 

[carshon]

@newtrailriders so exciting to hear of your new adventures and love for riding. Not bashing here but maybe Ona should find a new home so you can continue to work on your riding skills and become more comfortable. Having a mare around 2 geldings can be the issue as even though they are geldings they still have male hormones and 1 wants to "have the woman"

I know this all too well as I had 1 gelding with 3 mares and he was a nightmare if anyone got near his girls when we were out riding.