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An Equestrian Life

Horses, Saint Simeon: "Pony Man", Say Sarah Sandy: "Berry", Trail Rides
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June 2, 2016

Pony’s First Trail Ride

Pony is a coward. The times he’s gone off the property he has been fearful, and scared. When he was out at training, his trainer would purposely take him for walks around the barn, where he would spook at the same things he saw everyday in his daily life, the sawdust pile, the hay bales, the dog, definitely that goat.

goat5

He will haunt his dreams forever.

The only solution to this is to get him out and about. It’s time for him to get out on the trails.

I asked Olivia if she wanted to do some trail riding, and she wasn’t opposed. We set out for James Long Park, where we actually met for the first time just over a year ago (our anniversary ride?!)! Except this time, poor Vintage was left behind, pumped full of tranquilizer to keep her from trying anything crazy, and we took Berry and Pony.

Even though it was the holiday weekend, we surprisingly had the park almost completely to ourselves. We set up some jumps (or more accurately, Olivia did the hard thinking of positioning, striding, and actually setting up the jump, and I just brought some jump stuff over), and hopped right on.

I really thought Pony would be super spooky, mental breakdown horrible. But he just looked, carefully avoided getting too close to anything the first trip around the arena, and bizarrely, was afraid of a man walking down the street. But I set him to work, and he quickly forgot about much of anything, except probably how horrible I was for making him move his tiny little legs.

He also thought the footing was the most amazing thing he'd ever seen.

He also thought the footing was the most amazing thing he’d ever seen.

Meanwhile, Olivia did some stuff with Berry, and it’s always a joy to see her ride, as she’s just so dang good.

berry1

Berry does not feel the need to actually jump.

Berry does not feel the need to actually jump.

She did decide to jump this. Sorry about the too much zoom, I'm still trying to figure out how to use a camera.

She did decide to jump this. Sorry about the too much zoom, I’m still trying to figure out how to use a camera. It’s been like 20 years, but I’ll get it one of these days.

For anyone curious, Berry keeps ripping her tail out on her water buckets. It’s gotten worse since these pictures! :'(

Pony watched all this with great interest.

"Soon, my pet, we shall unleash whatever farm animal of war."

“Soon, my pet, we shall unleash whatever farm animal of war…in the form of jumping.”

Once the humidity got to us, we decided to head on out on the trails. To my surprise, Pony actually moved up to take the lead. He bravely went into the woods, but he was stumped at a ditch. Ditches are terrifying eaters of ponies, and he knows this. I ended up getting off, and pulling/pushing him until he finally made a leap over the ditch. But then Berry decided ditches eat horses, and didn’t want to go over it. We decided not to make a big deal of the ditch, so Pony and I went back over the ditch, although I just stepped over it, while he took another huge flying leap. Then, I conveniently got right back on him from the ground, because he’s so tiny and it’s super easy. No more looking around for logs and fences for me!

We headed back onto the trail with Pony leading again. Although, this basically meant that Pony’s short strides made Olivia have to stop every few steps to avoid running him over. When we came to another ditch that Pony didn’t want to cross, Olivia and Berry made their move and scooted right around him to take over the lead. They continued on, with no more stop-and-go traffic. And Pony started to drift way behind.

"Later, losers!"

“Later, losers!”

While Pony was super brave when he was leader, he was happy to now follow behind Berry on the journey. He looked around, but didn’t spook at a single thing, or hesitate about anything. He plugged along, happy with this new adventure.

We did have to continually trot to catch up.

Back together!

Back together!

Only to almost immediately fall back behind. At least once, Pony found a particularly interesting leaf or tree he wanted to examine, and Olivia had to stop and wait.

berrywoods

Eventually, we made it all through the trails, and back to the trailer. We did it, Pony survived, and he was so happy and calm about the entire experience. Although he was definitely tired, poor little guy.

We have successfully completed a small trail. Success!

We have successfully completed a small trail. Victory!

And, obviously, I cooed over how adorable my sweet little angel is.

Awwwwww, Berry loves her!

Awwwwww, Berry loves her!

And just to make sure there were no hard feelings, we visited with Vintage when we got back.

Vintage didn't seem to care. Berry found this interesting though!

Vintage didn’t seem to care. Berry found this interesting though!

I am so thrilled with how good Pony was. Underneath that scared Pony exterior lies a confident, brave Pony, ready to take on the world. He just needs to get out and see that world.

11 Comments
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Random Things

  • Sarah
    June 2, 2016

    Yay Pony! 🙂 He did so well!

    Reply
    • Courtney
      Sarah
      June 3, 2016

      He sure did! Truly a majestic pony!

      Reply
  • emma
    June 2, 2016

    ha poor pony. he’s going to turn into a solid citizen whether he wants to or not!! also rip to Berry’s tail! 🙁

    Reply
    • Courtney
      emma
      June 3, 2016

      He’ll get there!

      And yes, tail loss is serious. It’s going to take forever to grow that thing back!

      Reply
  • Olivia
    June 2, 2016

    Pony was so perfect! And so was Berry! And Vintage! I’m just going to steal your horses one of these days. It was a perfect anniversary ride <3

    Reply
    • Courtney
      Olivia
      June 3, 2016

      I’ll bring you flowers next time! <3

      Reply
  • Shelby
    June 3, 2016

    What a good pony! He’s so cute <3

    Reply
    • Courtney
      Shelby
      June 3, 2016

      He’s such a good boy! He’s a good trier, even if the world is scary!

      Reply
  • Tracy
    June 3, 2016

    Yay Pony!

    Reply
    • Courtney
      Tracy
      June 3, 2016

      Three cheers for pony!

      Reply
  • Micaylah
    June 3, 2016

    I want a Pony of my own just to trail ride and not have to worry about finding a long when I get off hahaha

    Reply

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