Owen, Jasi, Carol, and I took horses trailriding at Horsetooth Mountain Open Space to celebrate the day. For those not local to Colorado, yes there is actually a mountain called Horsetooth. It's shaped like two teeth in a horse's mouth, and there is a park around it.
Owen ran on foot, I rode Walsh, Jasi rode Beauty, and Carol rode Shambhu.
The path was open to horses, bikes, and hikers, but parts were very iced over and muddy. The horses were great though, they plowed through like the seasoned trail horses they are and picked their way through the tricky footing. Walsh and Beauty share a fence line at home and seemed to be in a little bit of a competition regarding who can walk the fastest.
I have a rule when trail riding that the horse can walk as fast as he wants, he just can't jig or trot. Walsh has been working on breathing halts at home, so when I take a deep exhale and tip my pelvis back he stops abruptly because he knows that stopping will sometimes earn him a cookie. Intermittent reward is very powerful stuff! It worked well out on the trail today. When he got a little jiggy I just took a deep breath, and he came right back to a walk or halt and we could resume walking on a very loose rein. Walsh despises having someone hanging on his mouth with the reins, and if the rider pulls excessively on his face he gets very upset and goes faster in an attempt to avoid the pressure. So this breathing halt thing works fabulously to keep him slow and relaxed because I don't need to use my reins.
A fun day with friends, horses, and Owen!
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