Wednesday, July 26, 2017

4.5 hour ride with Ani, WHERE?

I'm just looking at open street maps trying to figure out where we rode today. Holy crap, I think we rode all the way to Eipringhausen, far, far away! I'll bring a Garmin next time to be sure. I had no idea you could ride so far on "her side" of our area. I simply must go back.

You know that awesome feeling of discovering a new trail, that takes you farther than you would have imagined? I've got it. It's been a long time. I'm sitting her anticipating getting to know a new area, and anticipating showing Ani and Seli my secret trail that leads to a whole 'nother area, where you do not have to ride any roads at all.

BAD START to the day.....

I led Mag out the gate and he fruck out right in front of our house, prancing around, tail over his back, because....

He noticed the horses across the street? The ones he watches every day over our fence? What on earth? I was furious. I was in the process of putting my iPod on, to my "Calm" playlist, but his behavior made me toss the idea, I didn't feel like being calm. I was mad.

The iPod rode in the saddle bag the entire 4.5 hours.

Barely having left my house I had to tie my jacket to my saddle (it's been storming) because of the warmth and humidity. Mag's first time carrying a jacket. Do not try that with a rain coat, I had a polarfleece coat and he's fine with that material touching him.

Grouchily climbing up and down muddy, rain-ruined trails, the one Mag hates so much, I saw a lady with a white dog coming toward us. Then she was gone.

I know there's nowhere to go there, so she must have either teleported, or she was hiding from us in the woods.

As we got close, I started peering into the trees, trying to find her. Nothing. I leaned forward, thinking, "How odd" and then I heard a voice, "Hi, we're here" but I still saw no one.

Finally we found them.

I was kind of still pissed off so I said, very German like, "Are you HIDING?"

She said, "The trail is so narrow, I wanted to get out of the way. Sometimes horses are curious." Very nice.

I said, "You're right, and I thank you. But if  you hide like that you might startle a horse. So it's important that you say hello, like you did, so thank you."

Good grief. What next.

Oh just a beautiful chestnut with chrome Warmblood prancing the entire fenceline as we passed, trying his best to reach out and touch Mag's butt.

When I finally met Anja I said, "Let's trade. I want your horse today."

She was fully outfitted in rain gear, including little kiddie galoshes. And she needed it, cuz her horse always skirts the edges of the trail, forcing her to ride through the soaking wet branches. It never rained, but she was glad to have the gear.

We came out at the Ostrich/Bison farm and for the first time Mag noticed the Ostriches, and thankfully I was still on the ground. The double fence (think prison fence) made me feel safe, somewhat. It had grapes growing on it and I picked a cluster for Mag and he sucked on them and then spit them out cuz wow they're sour this time of year!

Walking alongside a corn field I saw a stalk lying on the ground and fed it to him, I guess I was feeling better about him. He loves eating corn stalks. I guess I shouldn't do that cuz I'm trying to teach him not to eat on trail, but handing him a snack is different from him reaching out and grabbing things as we go along.

Ani was like, "Horses can eat the stalks?"

Then we mounted up and our adventure began.

She took me further than I'd ever gone in that direction, and I'm so excited about it. I know I cannot recreate our ride today, cuz there were simply to many turns to remember. I know we rode where I never dreamed possible.

We had long stretches of silence, cuz this was our longest ride yet.

I forced Mag to follow Mira, her creeping, careful pace, almost all day long. I really want him to get it, that he can slow down, and he can follow. The one time I let him pass her, he eventually lost his nerve and balked, and then crept behind her again.

Mira is so slow, that if we encounter  hikers on the trail, they are always faster. If I'm on the ground leading Mag, I have to stop and wait, cuz I cannot seem to slow myself down. Hm, me and Mag both.

Then we rounded a curve and found ourselves in a gorgeous wood, with sunlight turning the grass neon, and the trees were covered in moss. MOSS! That is not normal here (on the trees), so I felt at home. I shouted out how beautiful it is here. OK her side is also nice.

Then a fallen tree was blocking the trail. I'd seen it in the distance and started scanning around for a detour, and found it. I said, "No worries, I think I see a way around" and steered Mag off trail. He hesitated, "What!?"

I said, "Go on." He pushed into the sparse bushes and then stopped, "BUT WE CANNOT LEAVE OUR FRIENDS!" I said, "No worries, they'll surprise you by coming with."

I was proud because Mag forged into the unknown, as I directed him through holly brush and trees, he wasn't happy about it, but I proved myself.

Eventually, finally Anja did turn Mira off the trail into the woods to follow us, and Mag was OK again. Baby horses, *sigh* Mag was relieved that I was right, that my detour worked out. If only Mag knew about CMO.

Then we were down at the Eifgen, the stream, but it had been raining for 2 days and it was overflowing its banks and had rapids-like crests over the rocks.

I had been taking photos because we were off trail, in a lovely "remote" valley, and it was gorgeous, and then suddenly, Ani took Mira right into the rushing water.




     



Please trust me, the creek was much wider and rushinger than it looks here. I'd never been here, obviously, so I had never seen the creek in slower days.

WISH I'D HAD MY IPOD ON NOW!

     




I had no time to put my camera away, but I was not going to drop it in the water if Mag had a problem. He's never been in such rushing water before. I said, "WAIT, WAIT, WAIT!" to Mag, as I tried to get my camera put away, because Mira was already on the other side, and Mag was getting anxious.

I called to Ani to come a little bit back toward us, (this is where S1 excels, she would never just cross a stream without checking with me to see if I'm ready).

I think Mira was impatient, and that was the problem. Anyway, Ani brought her back into the rushing water and Mag entered, and although unsteady, he was fine.

Between that place and home we had 4 more water crossings, and one of them I insisted to dismount for, cuz I knew Mag would leap over, and he cannot balance well in an arena, so leaping with a rider on a muddy bank was not something I wanted. Indeed, he leaped so spectacularly he almost fell on landing in the mud. Ani's mare had stepped over it, it was nothing. I really hate this, but I remember it with Baasha.

Eventually Ani got off and led her mare, to give her a break, cuz she's 24 years old. I stayed on Mag's back for that final steep climb, as he huffed his way up it, losing his balance countless times cuz it's so technical, and slippery from the storm. Mira was slipping too, in her Renegades.

Back on the street where Ani's barn is, cars started passing and one of them I recognized. It was V, S1's husband! I waved but he did not notice me. Hm!

As we approached, passing Ostriches and Bison with no issues, I saw V in the  field with S1's chestnut Arabian, greeting him, and cleaning up poop. How nice, that he does the chores.

Then we were back at her barn and Ani put Mira away with her mash. I popped around the corner to say hi to V, and he looked at me a long while before recognizing me. I said "You could say hi, when you drive your car right by my horse!" He said, "I thought it was T (a local grey horse)." I guess he couldn't imagine me so far from my home?

I had tied up Mag and he's so good about tying in strange places, thank God. He just stood there, saying, "She gets a mash, I get nothing?" Sorry Mag, I'd like lunch too, but we're an hour from home."



     


Mag safely tied, while Ani cleans every hair on her mare lovingly, including the hooves. It's her first horse. You can tell, watching her, she prizes every hair on her body.

See my jacket? That's how it spend the entire day. Thankfully my saddle has a hole in the front, under the pommel, where I can stuff my jacket, cuz Mag would not be happy about a jacket on the cantle of the saddle. Someday!



     


I am jealous they have a covered, paved area to groom. *wish*




     


This is Mag saying, "Where are you going? Don't leave me here!!"

"OH Mag, I'm just stepping away a few paces to get a photo. I'm not leaving you."

I entered the other open barn area to say hi to Volker. OK so I guess I did actually leave him, but he could hear my voice on the other side of the wall in this photo. S1's chestnut walked right up to me, "I know you!"


Then there were two goats pushing their horns at me, like bullies, and I had to find a plastic fence post to get them to leave me alone.

Ani was done for the day, and did not accompany me halfway home as we normally do. I
finally left and it wasn't fun at all, that hour long walk leading Mag on city streets, but I understand that Ani's mare was done for the day.

Mag was like a horse who'd done his first endurance ride, and found the limit of his strength. He was dragging. He stopped to drink from a muddy puddle and I pulled him over to the creek, and he drank and drank. A hiker passed right behind him and he looked, and then drank and drank some more. Something spooked him, and then he drank some more. *lol*

I took him to the little muddy creek of doom and practiced a long time, trying to get him to step/walk over it, and not leap. We did it over and over and over. One time, he actually did a LEVADE, before springing in a controlled fashion. Whatever, horse, you can just step over it. I kind of get it, why it's hard, cuz it's so muddy and he doesn't want to sink. But we spent a long, long time there today, with him up to his pasterns in the mud, and eventually he finally walked over it.

We'll be doing a lot more of that!

That last hill home was hard, but we made it. 4.5 hours, Mag's longest, I think. I was on the ground leading him 1.5 hours of that, perhaps a little more.

I'm thrilled to have found that her side of town goes further than I knew.

I know mine goes way, way further.....but that's for next time, if she's willing to go that far with me.

I emailed S1 that I saw her husband today, and she said, "You'll go all the way to my barn to ride with Ani, but not ME? Just kidding, but really, my time is so limited, it would be nice if you came all that way to ride with me!"

I answered that we trade each time, she comes here, I go there, and we always meet halfway. And we always accompany the other half way home (except for today), because the distance is so great between us, it sucks. I told her the time of day matters, Ani wants to ride in the morning, before the awful heat, which makes it easier for me.

I was happy to hear S1 say, "I really want to ride with you more!"

But I told her I hate that hour long busy street walk getting there, and in the evening when she rides? *sigh*

Anyway it feels good to know she wants to ride with me.

And MORE TRAILS!!!!!!!!!!



     








     








     








     




6 comments:

ellie k said...

What a great ride, I think you will both be tired tomorrow but feel very satisified about the ride. When our corn was finished my dad used to cut the whole stock for the horses.

AareneX said...

Yay more trails! I thought of your eccentric neighbor yesterday: we were trotting through the woods at Bracken (tree farm) and there were all kind of roots across the trail to trot over at RANDOM intervals. Of course, Fiddle went right over them.

And then down into the river. That cold water felt so good on a hot (86F very humid!) day. I usually hate getting my shoes and socks wet but it was fabulous.

T said...

That valley is gorgeous!

AareneX said...

p.s. Mag doesn't look like Baasha in ANY of today's pictures. I think he's growing into his own identity.

Kitty Bo said...

This is so wonderful.

TeresaA said...

Wow that was a long ride but so beautiful.