Highboy Trail Rides at Barr Lake

Yesterday on the spur of the moment a friend invited me to go with her and her gaited horse to Barr Lake for a trail ride.  I didn't realize it was with a large trail riding group, so I brought Highboy to put some more out-of-the-arena miles on him.  If I had known the demographic we were riding with (mostly retired or semi-retired women on older horses) I would have brought a more sedate mount.   Highboy is still a young silly horse who needs to get out and see the world before he will transform into a quiet adult horse.  These nice ladies were out to enjoy the scenery on a walk around a lake with their horses, I was using it as a schooling ride.

It turned out that Highboy was a bit intimidating to the others in the group, so my friend and I rode the loop in one direction, walking very fast because Highboy is tall and her horse is gaited.  The others walked the loop in the reverse direction.  About halfway around, a woman in her twenties and her really cool sorrel Quarter Horse mare caught up to us and rode the second half of the loop with us.  

She wasn't bothered by Highboy's stature and was impressed with how he settled down and focused on the ride for being so young.  His ears were up the entire time, eagerly looking for the next great adventure.  We rode on the top of sort of a berm, with the lake on one side and a drop-off on the other.  There were geese launching out of the tall grass, cyclists and hikers, as well as several very large bridges with both metal and wooden sides.  The footing varied from walking on grass to concrete, pavement, and gravel.  There were shadows and trees as well.  Highboy really enjoyed everything, and he did it all with his traditional panache', eager to go attempt all the new things.  He also stood quietly at the horse trailer after we were done, forty five minutes before everyone else thanks to our efficient pace.

 By the time we got home we were certainly tired, but for a horse and human who love to go and play it was a very fun day.