A Trail Ride!

Last Saturday Ernie and I knocked a few firsts off our list. Not only did he travel in his trailer for the first time, but we also went on our first off property trail ride.

I contacted a friend who used to board at the same barn to be our buddy for this adventure since she now boards near the park and goes pretty frequently. She was nice enough to drive over to my barn, despite living closer to the park, to accompany me on my first loaded trailer driving adventure. We loaded Ernie up and headed over to her barn to pick up her horse. She suggested that we unload Ernie there and tack up both horses so when we got to the park we could just unload, bridle, and get on.

This ended up being a perfect idea. Ernie was a bit wide eyed and wiggly coming off the trailer at the park so it was nice not to have to find out just then how he trailer ties (probably fine). He took in the trotter horses headed out for a ride and then let me mount politely. He was a little nervous at times, like when runners would pop up on different paths, but a perfect gentleman for our ride. He’s the best!

We rode for almost exactly an hour and the only thing that he balked at was the two small water crossings. Each time he refused to go on the first try then went fine on the second try. On the way back he crossed them both with no issues.

We did the same thing in reverse coming home – stopping to drop off my friend’s horse and untack before loading Ernie back up to head home.

I’m guessing winter will keep us from getting out on the trails again this year but I can’t wait to go back!