Today a friend and I decided to head up the Doc Larsen Trail. Everything was going fine until we got about a third up the trail and came accross a small tree that had fallen at an angle, blocking the trail. Unfortuantely, the opening was way too small to go under and no way around- the trail is a single-track on the side of a hill with a 20-foot dropoff on one side and a slope on the other.
We didn't have any saws or cutting tools except for a very rudimetary saw on my Leatherman Multi-tool so while I held the horses, my partner tried to cut it away. The tree was firmly wedged in some other vegetation so he couldn't just shove it aside (and the fact that the wood was green didn't help). At first I had to back up to give his horse room and that was a bit scarry backing up on a trail. Fortuantely, Max handled that well. I then dismounted while my partner tool the Multi-tool and attempted to cut the tree.
I was a bit nervious holding two horses on a narrow trail but they both decided to graze so they were content (touching noses and all). After about 15 minutes my partner called it quits- the limb was too thick and we didn't want to run the risk of more people coming along and getting stacked up (not fun on a narrow trail with nowhere to go).
As my partner edged towards me to give me back my Leatherman, Max so some reason got scared and began to back up- great, I thought, all I need is the horse to back up and then lose his footing (the trail behind him takes a sharp downward turn). I managed to get him to halt and then calmed him down (Thank god!).
I then had to turn Max around so we could walk them back down the trail to a relatively flat spot so we could re-mount. That was interesting. Most experts recommend always turning a horse on a narrow trail towards the outside edge so they can see the dropoff. To do this, I first had to pass in front very carefully and one I'd done that, cue Max to turn. Max handled the rest- he scrunched his rear and hind legs and then made a pivot. Max is not dumb and he definately ddidn't want to go over the side!
Afterwards, we rode down the trail the way we'd came and then decided to take a right turn on the fire road and head towards the sheep pens. We then took a long loop home. It wasn't quite what I'd planned on doing but sometimes that happens. In any event, it was another "lesson" in trail riding that I think we did allright with.
We didn't have any saws or cutting tools except for a very rudimetary saw on my Leatherman Multi-tool so while I held the horses, my partner tried to cut it away. The tree was firmly wedged in some other vegetation so he couldn't just shove it aside (and the fact that the wood was green didn't help). At first I had to back up to give his horse room and that was a bit scarry backing up on a trail. Fortuantely, Max handled that well. I then dismounted while my partner tool the Multi-tool and attempted to cut the tree.
I was a bit nervious holding two horses on a narrow trail but they both decided to graze so they were content (touching noses and all). After about 15 minutes my partner called it quits- the limb was too thick and we didn't want to run the risk of more people coming along and getting stacked up (not fun on a narrow trail with nowhere to go).
As my partner edged towards me to give me back my Leatherman, Max so some reason got scared and began to back up- great, I thought, all I need is the horse to back up and then lose his footing (the trail behind him takes a sharp downward turn). I managed to get him to halt and then calmed him down (Thank god!).
I then had to turn Max around so we could walk them back down the trail to a relatively flat spot so we could re-mount. That was interesting. Most experts recommend always turning a horse on a narrow trail towards the outside edge so they can see the dropoff. To do this, I first had to pass in front very carefully and one I'd done that, cue Max to turn. Max handled the rest- he scrunched his rear and hind legs and then made a pivot. Max is not dumb and he definately ddidn't want to go over the side!
Afterwards, we rode down the trail the way we'd came and then decided to take a right turn on the fire road and head towards the sheep pens. We then took a long loop home. It wasn't quite what I'd planned on doing but sometimes that happens. In any event, it was another "lesson" in trail riding that I think we did allright with.
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