Today the ETI Corral that I belong to sponsored its annual "Follow Your Ass Trail Trial Practice and Trail Ride" (or "Follow Your Ass Ride" for short). I grant that the name sounds a bit strange but apparently it started some years ago when the ride used to be lead by someone on a mule and from there the tradition started. Apparently the mule hasn't been around for awhile but the tradition lives on.
Originally this event only consisted of brunch and a trail ride but this year Corral 20 decided to include coaching for trail trial competition to give a more practical focus. In planning this event, we gave thought to the prescribed ETI Trail Trial format and included various obstacles that would appear in a competition. We also made sure to include thngs that are commonly encountered that tend to spook horses such as bicycles, large logs, gates, and the like.
Besides setting assisting in the event set-up, I also participated with Max. Because of Max's issues with bikes, I focused quite a bit on this obstacle. For the bike, basically someone rode back in forth in a line while I both alternately followed and the bycyclist. I had done some preliminary work with the bike in the round pen last weekend so this wasn't a complete surprise to Max. Overall, Max did pretty well and while he shied on occassion, he didn't have a melt-down and he seemed to be gradually getting used to it. By no means are we complete and I realize that we'll have more work to do but it was heartening.
I also did some practive backing Max up along an L-shaped path formed by some logs. This worked out better than I thought and it appears that our practice with backing up, spinning on the haunches and spinnning on the forehand has really paid off. It's nice to see that I can manuever Max so precisely- I couldn't have done this a year ago.
After about two hours, we stopped for an excellent brunch followed up by a short trail ride up to the sheep pens. I normally avoid group rides with a large number of horses but I decided to do this anyway since I'm trying to get Max use to group situations where he'll behave. Overall, this also worked out pretty well- a couple of times he wanted to speed up on the way home but we managed to convince him that it was a better idea to listen to me.
Here's some pictures of the event. The photo quality may not be good since I took these while I was in the saddle and my camera is difficult to work with one hand (I really need to get one of the newer, more compact models!). Also, these trails are some of the ones that I most often ride.
Originally this event only consisted of brunch and a trail ride but this year Corral 20 decided to include coaching for trail trial competition to give a more practical focus. In planning this event, we gave thought to the prescribed ETI Trail Trial format and included various obstacles that would appear in a competition. We also made sure to include thngs that are commonly encountered that tend to spook horses such as bicycles, large logs, gates, and the like.
Besides setting assisting in the event set-up, I also participated with Max. Because of Max's issues with bikes, I focused quite a bit on this obstacle. For the bike, basically someone rode back in forth in a line while I both alternately followed and the bycyclist. I had done some preliminary work with the bike in the round pen last weekend so this wasn't a complete surprise to Max. Overall, Max did pretty well and while he shied on occassion, he didn't have a melt-down and he seemed to be gradually getting used to it. By no means are we complete and I realize that we'll have more work to do but it was heartening.
I also did some practive backing Max up along an L-shaped path formed by some logs. This worked out better than I thought and it appears that our practice with backing up, spinning on the haunches and spinnning on the forehand has really paid off. It's nice to see that I can manuever Max so precisely- I couldn't have done this a year ago.
After about two hours, we stopped for an excellent brunch followed up by a short trail ride up to the sheep pens. I normally avoid group rides with a large number of horses but I decided to do this anyway since I'm trying to get Max use to group situations where he'll behave. Overall, this also worked out pretty well- a couple of times he wanted to speed up on the way home but we managed to convince him that it was a better idea to listen to me.
Here's some pictures of the event. The photo quality may not be good since I took these while I was in the saddle and my camera is difficult to work with one hand (I really need to get one of the newer, more compact models!). Also, these trails are some of the ones that I most often ride.
Heading up the trail towards Middle Ranch. Last October, the hills in front were a blazing inferno. Quite a difference now.
Up at the sheep pens. The sheep are in the distance, off camera to the left. Notice the high power lines. Further up is the Doc Larsen Trail and the fire roads that I often ride on.
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