Today I woke up and there was miraculously no wind. Before my feet even hit the floor I texted Alice to see if she and her mare, Beauty, could go on a trailride with me and Tsavo today in the morning. Luckily she was both awake at six and also had the morning free, so off to Lory State Park we went.
Since I'm getting Tsavo ready for trailriding and camping season, we assembled all the accoutrements one would usually assume for a long ride, including rope halter under the bridle, first aid kid, saddle bags, jacket, extra lead rope, water bottles, and snacks.
Tsavo gave me some funny looks when I piled all the equipment onto him, but he accepted it without any fuss. I get horses acclimated to riding with saddle bags using cookies, so every time I opened a zippered pocket from the saddle I'd hand Tsavo a little piece of horse cookie. The first time I did it I leaned over his shoulder to tap his neck with my hand so he knew I had something for him. Unfortunately I startled him and he struck out in the air with his right front foot as if a fly had tried to sting him. Once I apologized for surprising him and explained I was just offering him a cookie he happily took the goodie without any further fuss.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pkxcrd_ZkuQ
Before long all I had to do was start to zip my jacket up or down and he was peering at me over his shoulder asking if it was time for treat dispensing. He was only mildly concerned about the plastic surrounding my dried fruit bar, and it only caused him pause for a moment. He wasn't phased by my clothing changes or me drinking from my water bottle. All he needed was a little verbal reassurance and a scratch on the withers to be completely confident in whatever I was doing.
I chose this trail today for the bridges. We went over at least a dozen on this ride. They were wooden bridges of varying lengths and widths, and I don't know if Tsavo has seen bridges before. He is such a reasonable fellow, when we would come across something he was unsure of his default was to stop and lift his head. From this vantage point he could turn his face and look at me over his shoulder to ask, "Are we okay, Kim?" As long as I scratched the side of his withers or rubbed his neck and told him all is well, he would quietly lower his head and respond, "Ok, as long as you say so" and then calmly proceed past whatever he was looking at.
Here is video of just his second bridge. He really wanted to do the right thing, and wasn't sure that going over the bridge was it, so he did take a little hop up the hill to the left before I was able to redirect him and get him turned around the right way. Once I had clarified the directions he did great.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vsg7e7Q3Bj0
By the time we got to the third bridge you can see the video showing that it was no problem. When we got to the end of the ride and he was a dozen bridges in, he wasn't even pausing anymore. All I had to say was "careful" when the footing got tricky or before a bridge and he would make sure he put his feet in just the right places.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ayZ5n5E-ms
I was super impressed with Tsavo's long swingy walk. When he initially stepped into this ground covering stride my first thought was "Jillian is going to LOVE this". His owner is very into trail riding, and this horse is an incredibly efficient creature in his extended walk. He even marched over a bridge and directly to a mountain biker who had pulled off the trail to let us pass. The cyclist had a very full beard, and Tsavo went right up to him to take a good look at the bike. After inspecting the hardware, Tsavo put his horse lips up to the man's face and wiggled his lips in the guy's beard. I hurriedly redirected Tsavo back to our side of the trail, but not before he'd asked the man if he had any cookies he'd like to share.
Beauty was great on the ride as well. Tsavo led the whole way due to his longer stride, but Beauty held her own by jogging to catch up and then walking politely behind us.
We took some time to let Tsavo play at the edge of the water and take a drink. Beauty is the happiest water horse I've ever met, so I figured we would try it while she was with us in case I needed her to demonstrate. Turned out there was no need, Tsavo was happy to get into the water just fine.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XCNWMexLvxo
It was a great ride, and I'm so excited to see how his owner enjoys trailriding with him once she gets him out on the trails herself.
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