Good Friday Trail Ride

 

(Note: some of the following photos were taken by me and some were taken by my buddy Kendra, who enjoys horseback photography as much as I do)

I had a very busy and stressful 4 days last week, but what kept me sane was looking forward to a Friday trail ride at 4 Winds Equestrian Center that my friend Loeta had invited me to earlier in the month.

Loeta riding her sweet Paso Fino gelding, Profe.

I hadn’t ridden Apache for 2 weeks and I know we were both missing exploring the trails together.

 

My dear friend Kendra had heard about our upcoming ride, and she was also needing a horseback trail ride fix. So, we were happy to invite her to join us, too.

Kendra decided to ride her little gelding, Poncho, whom she trained to pull a cart last year. She hadn’t ridden him out on a trail with other horses, besides his own herd ever! But she wanted to give him some exercise and new experiences, while giving her Bailey boy some experience with being left behind.

Well, now we had 3 of us for our Good Friday Trail Ride.

But because I hadn’t ridden with my friend Dita since September, and she boards her pretty mare Eve at 4 Winds, I contacted her and invited her to join us, too.

So, now we had 4 of us for our Good Friday Trail Ride!

But because our friend Colleen is the owner of 4 Winds Equestrian Center and is an avid horsewoman who doesn’t get near enough riding opportunities, I begged her to join us, too. And I was thrilled when she said yes!

Colleen was riding her horse, Pepper.

Apache was happy to see Poncho, even though she’s never ridden with him before. I’m sure she remembers him from riding at Kendra’s ranch and he probably even smells like her BFF Bailey boy, too.

I was just so happy to be riding my horse on such a gorgeous, sunny, warm Spring day!

I am also very appreciative that my mare can stand around for weeks, months, even a year without having anything done with her, or having anyone ride her, and when I get on her back, it’s like no time has passed at all. Riding her is truly like a mini-vacation. No work, just fun. Just me and my horse focusing on the trail while enjoying being out in nature together.  

Two friends of Colleen, a husband and wife team, whom I know from Walkin N Circles Ranch Horse Rescue, also joined us for the first half of our trail ride, too.

So, if you’re keeping track, that made our horse/rider a grand total of 7 for our Good Friday Trail Ride! 

4 Winds Equestrian Center encompasses 400 acres of land with many miles of trails, and some unique, interesting and challenging terrain. We also explored Colleen’s neighbor’s land where they just put in a brand new road to their new building home site.

There are many established trails, but it’s also fun to blaze our own trail and explore different areas of the ranch.

It was a warm and sunny day, temperature about 72F, perfect for a t-shirt.

Dita and Kendra enjoying the perfect weather for a Good Friday Trail Ride.

Most of my friends keep their horses barefoot, as I do with my Apache mare. Our horses’ hooves are as tough and as strong as the terrain they travel over.

Kendra wears a helmet sometimes, but before she met me, I don’t think wearing a helmet was the norm for her. She wore one on Friday because she had never taken Poncho out on a trail ride in a group with horses not in his own herd before, and she wasn’t sure what his reaction would be. Thankfully he was calm, relaxed, and laid back about the entire experience, and he seemed to enjoy himself, too. Kendra really enjoyed having a short horse for mounting.

Kendra wearing her helmet, with a cover she made herself.

After about an hour of riding, we headed back up to the stables and we dropped off the husband and wife horse trainer team. And then we rode down the main entrance road of the ranch towards a different section where we were going to ride.

The day was a bit breezy, but it sure was nice to have the breeze to cool down some of the heat.

 

Colleen and Dita, and Colleen’s Great Pyrenees, Zulu, bringing up the rear.

Speaking of Zulu, Apache showed me another part of her personality on Friday when she made several attempts to lunge after the big white, furry dog, and even acted like she wanted to take a bite out of him, too. If I hadn’t of been so concerned that she might hurt him, it would have been entertaining, as it reminded me of the time that my neighbor’s dog trespassed into my pasture while I was riding Apache, and I instructed Apache to chase it out. She really seemed to enjoy that a lot!

I sometimes think it would be fun to see if my Apache mare is cowy at all. It would be fun to try ranch sorting or cutting with her and, if the way she likes to herd and chase dogs while I’m on her back, is any indication, I believe she would be good at it! 

 

Colleen led the way down to the pond, so our horses could get a drink and we could play in the water.

 

Apache was eager to walk right into the water to get a drink…….perhaps a little too eager, in fact!

 

Apache has never been worried about water, although she doesn’t like deep, hoof-sucking mud. The mud in this pond was sandy, and the water was clear.

And this is the last photo I took of our time in the water, because just a few minutes after I took this photo, my silly mare decided to take a dip!

 

Apache didn’t give me much warning at all. She barely pawed the water and before I could stop her, she just folded her back legs and sat down on her rump, like one of those horses you’ve seen in photos that have their big pony butts plopped into a bean bag chair.

Then the front legs followed, and before I could do anything, there I was perched on my Apache mare’s back in the 8” deep water, like I was sitting on a very happy hippo wallowing in a waterhole! Gosh! It was actually very funny!

At one point I considered bailing, but my camera, cell phone and GPS were in my saddle bags, and I didn’t want her to roll and get them wet. And if I bailed, I’d also have to wade through the water, getting my shoes and pants soaked all the way through.

So my only option was to get Apache to stand back up, with me on her back. I’m still not even sure how I managed to get her to stand back up, but between me pulling up on her reins, squeezing and kicking her sides with my calves and feet, and smacking her on the butt…..she finally heaved herself out of that wonderfully cool water and stood up.

There aren’t any photos of me on my hippo horse in the waterhole, because my friends were all too busy alternating between laughing or being concerned about my safety. I sure wish I had a photo, though. I’m sure I would enlarge it and have it framed. *grin*

This photo was taken right after I got Apache to stand up, but as you can see, she is. not. happy. about. it.

She was already looking for an opportunity to lay down in the water a second time!    

And in this photo, you can see that she was getting ready to sit down in the water again. The only thing that stopped her was me pulling up on her head while smacking her on the butt!

Poor Apache. She was so disappointed I made her leave the water! If she had been bareback and I wasn’t wearing shoes, I think I would have been happy to let her lay down in the water, as long as she didn’t try to roll. I have always wanted to swim with my horse, and having her lay down and then stand back up was actually kind of fun!

I couldn’t stop laughing! My friends were laughing, too. I was reminded of the time, 3 years ago when I went horse camping up in the Carson National Forest, with Loeta and Colleen. While riding a trail we came upon a deep, slimy, green, muddy livestock pond, and a few in our group decided to walk in. And in a moment, Colleen’s husband’s horse Jake laid down in the filthy water with Colleen still on her back. She was able to get him up and out of the pond, but she was soaked and dirty. And we all laughed when Colleen took off her boot, and water came pouring out.

In this photo below, Colleen and I were laughing and talking about that day.

And this is my favorite photo, taken by Kendra, from our Good Friday Trail Ride. Colleen was still laughing about Apache laying down in the pond with me, while I was pointing out the mud and water on my right shoe, half-chaps, stirrup and Apache’s butt. *grin*

 

And in this photo, we were still laughing about the hippo horse incident, or I might have been asking Colleen if she had any Grey Poupon. *grin*

This photo was taken after my hippo horse took a dip in the waterhole, but there isn’t any mud on her left side because she laid on her right side in the water.

But you can still see that her legs and tail are muddy.

At 4 Winds, beside the indoor arena, they have a little horsie playground set up with a few things to challenge you and your horse with, like this Teeter Totter that Dita and her mare Eve are standing on.

 

Kendra encouraged Poncho to hop up on the Teeter Totter and he was such a good boy.

He didn’t even freak out when the Teeter Totter….teetered over to one side. He just backed up a bit and waited to see what would happen next. *grin*

Apache, on the other hand, wanted nothing to do with any Teeter Totter contraptions, and when I asked her to step up, she turned completely away. But I can;t really blame her. I don’t think I was ready for Teetering or Tottering that day either. I’d had enough excitement from our Hippo Horse Adventure!

 

But lest Apache think that I was just going to let her get away with not trying something out on that horsie playground, I asked her to do something I knew she knew how to do: The Platform.

We did have an issue with her wanting to step up and then walk right off, and not wanting to stand still on the platform. So, in the photo below, Apache is stepping up, but I am ready with my reins to stop her before she walks off the other side.

And we did it! Good girl, Apache mare!

We rode almost 5 miles on Friday and here’s the GPS Map from our Good Friday Trail Ride:

4 Winds Good Friday Trail Ride

EveryTrail - Find the best Hiking near Albuquerque, New Mexico

And here is my naughty, muddy pony!

                                     Apache says, “Who me?”

And the opposite side as you can see barely got muddy at all. But, one thing I do see, is how nicely filled out my Apache mare has become. The previous winter I didn’t ride her at all. But this past winter, I rode her at least 1-2 times a month. And between those rides and her change in diet, she has come out of winter looking so much better than she did last Spring.

 

Have I already mentioned how much I love my Hippo Horse……………...er………..Apache mare?!