A new trail

A friend came up last night, and is keen to come riding with me. So this morning we set off super early, keen to explore a new trail.

I feel Crownie didn't enjoy yesterday's session, so I focus on keeping my heels down, stirrups on the ball of my foot, and letting her have as much free rein as possible. We will be doing sufficient hill work today, that she will come on the aids when she is ready.

We trot, canter and gallop up to the start of the trail. Then we walk. The trail weaves up and down, rather than following the ridge. I didn't bring the map, so we are doomed to staying on the trail. It's good for the horses though, which get a lot of nice hill work this way. The ruts left by the motor bikes are annoying, and definitely slow our progress in places. Every now and then we need to bush bash to get around a deeper rut, or a bog hole. Eventually we descend into a creek crossing, where I actually have to get off, scout the route, and move some logs and branches. The creek crossing is so rutted we have to walk the horses across it, and half way up the next hill. But when we hop on again, the track opens up beautifully and we can trot and canter as long as we slow down at the slippery parts. When we get back to the main trail, we canter and gallop all the way home.

It's a great fitness ride. Firstly, we were out for just over 2 hours. Then my idea to let Crownie have a long rein pays big dividends. She starts collecting before we even hit the trail under investigation. It allows me to focus on my heels, and I discover that my heels are not the problem. It's more that I am being lazy with my thigh and back muscles. As we weave up and down the trail, I repeatedly lose my balance. Eventually it hits home that I need to rely on a strong body core for balance. Once this happens, the feet stay in the stirrups all by themselves, and Crownie becomes more balanced as well. As my posture improves, so does Crownie, so does her collection. The final canter is excellent.