Llamas and Chickens and Mini Ponies.. oh my!

In an effort to make a more well-rounded horse, I finally found the time (and the guts) to take Reno out on his very first trail ride. I was optimistically apprehensive, as Reno spooks at the invisible monsters that lurk in the shadows of the ring on a good day. Thankfully Rach was a good sport and offered to accompany us aboard Vez so that he could be the "lead pony". Since nothing phases Vez I figured that it would be good for Reno to have a familiar horse with him on his first time out.

As it turns out, all my worry was for nothing. Reno charged ahead and insisted on being the lead pony the entire way. I rode him with a nice loose, relaxed rein and although he was alert, there was no spooking or sidestepping. We navigated through dirt roads with barking dogs, a pond, a wooden bridge and Reno took it all in stride. Our next venture lead us to Old Towne, which is basically a mock-western town that someone has built out in the middle of the country for no real reason. Have money, will build? Still, it makes for a fun place to ride through. If there was ever a place to expose your horse to a variety of sights/sounds, this is it. We came upon a jumping llama (hilarious...), an adorable mini-pony, chickens, draft horses, dogs and the list goes on. Reno seemed a bit freaked, but was overall really good about walking through it. Old Towne is a lot for ME to take in, so I was immensly proud of him for keeping his head. Maybe we actually have a shot at cross-country after all....


Two really great things to take away from that experience: 1. Getting Reno out of the ring makes him (and me) happy and more productive. 2. Reno must be getting bored with some of our workouts when he starts spooking in the ring. I need to find new exercises to keep his mind engaged so that he doesn't get bored and we continue to be productive.


It was also a great test to see how the ponies would hold up barefoot on more varied terrain. We have some rocky places, and they seemed to be fine! No soreness afterwards and Reno especially seem unaffected. Vez has been living in sand most of his life and has just started barefoot trimming, so I was happy to see that his feet were fine after our outing. He still seems a bit tender on the rocky gravel, but they seem to be getting stronger everyday. I have thought about getting EasyBoots made for them so that we can do more trails. Does anyone have experience with these? I have never used them and would love to know what your experiences have been!

In non-horsey news, I spent the weekend in NYC with my mom and two sisters.


It was great to get away and see the city again, although it was FREEZING. I don't know how you people up north do it! Went to lots of museums and finally saw Wicked, which was all I hoped it would be. Debated getting tickets to see War Horse on Broadway, but decided to wait and see the movie instead. I finally finished the book, so I will be intersted to see how it compares.