Steve and I were able to take advantage of some warmer weather a few weeks ago and take our 2 yo filly's to Sleepy Hollow for their first trail ride. We loaded them up in the trailer, and headed out. Once we got there, we organized ourselves and unloaded Soleil and Little Ray. We were the only ones there, so we had plenty of space to play. We sent them around to check out the staging area; they were touching trees, checking out picnic tables and trash cans, and being curious about their new environment. After about 10-20 minutes, we saddled up, warmed them up a bit more, and were ready to go. We took off down the trail at a walk, and then picked it up to a trot after a few minutes. From there, we trotted out for at least 20 minutes, playing with our riding, faster trots, slower trots, weaving down the trail, and generally enjoying the communication with our horses, each other and nature. We rode through more than half of the trails, up and down hills, walk, tort, canter, stop and back up transitions, twisty turn trails, through mud, tree branches, by an extremely large culvert, people on foot, shadows and dirt bikes. After about 3 hours, we headed back to the trailer.
And the whole time our horses were calm, connected and responsive. The were blowing out, there were no spooks, we didn't hold them back, or nudge them forwards. It was an extreme pleasure.
So my point to all of that is: the foundation and preparation our horses have set all 4 of us up for a successful ride that day. All of their preschool education at Atwood in the quality hands of the Horse Developers there truly payed off. We were able to take both horses and continue their education at home, and build on what they had already learned. Through the use of the program, building a relationship and their confidence makes a world of difference. The wonderful thing is, using the seven keys to success, anyone can accomplish these goals with their horses!
Speaking of the seven keys to success....I will be blogging about them next!
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