Sunday, March 29, 2009

Water Anyone???

Amber and I went on a really cool ride the other day, and I thought I would share a bit of that with you. First though, I wanted to mention one thing.... For those of you who read Chelsi's blog, you know that she recently asked the question of why we like to ride horses.
That was relatively easy for me to answer right now...I like to ride because it gives me a release from the stressors in my day to day life. And while I may have once enjoyed spending a lot of time working with my horse, I now like to ride a well trained, dependable one that doesn't require a lot of energy from me. (Acting out every now and then is fine, but I spend a lot of time disciplining and training my kidlets, and I don't want to do the same with a horse; at this time in my life anyway!)Right now, my time and energy is pulled in so many directions, that I honestly don't have a lot to offer anyone...or any horse that needs a lot of help/work either. Bo and Wasksa are great for me then, because they don't require that I work with them a ton; I can just get on and go. (Makes me sound kind of boring, huh??)
Don't get me wrong though, Bo and I have really developed a lot of trust between us, and he does things today that he would not have done with me a year ago. (It will be one year in May since we got him back) He loves me and I love him, and he is always happy to see me when I pull up at Amber's house, it is just that most of the work and relationship building that we do is while I am on his back, not on the ground, and thankfully he doesn't require that I need to do groundwork with him (Ahhhh...the joys of riding a seasoned show and trail horse...lol!!!)(Above:Bo wolfing down fern fronds on the trail the other day, while Amber and I took a potty break) Anyway...sorry to digress, I just thought that I would mention Chelsi's thought provoking post, because it was well written, and well....though provoking....lol!!!!! (Hey there Chelsi!!!)


Where was I again???? Oh yes...our ride!!! See??? I am a total space cadet. It is a wonder that I can even remember how to ride a horse...lol!!!! On Friday, my mom and dad took my kidlets, so Amber and I could ride without any time constraints, and we had a lot of fun. It had rained all morning, so we waited until around noon to head out. We saw a ton of wildlife (out moving after the rain), and cruised along at a relaxing pace...kinda!!
One of the trails we went on takes us down and then up about a 1/2 mile, and Bo decided that he wanted to canter and/or prance the whole way up. It is kind of fun when he is in one of his crazy moods, and I am always amazed at the stamina of Arabian horses. Thankfully Bo calmed down once we were done with the steep trails. (You can see the base of that trail in the picture above, and Bo sure was eager to get to the top...lol!!)
So we rode up trails, and we rode down trails, and we crossed trails, and even made a few of our own trails....lol!!! When we finally came out to a main line, Amber asked if I wanted to ride down to a lake that I have not been to in over 20 years, and I said "sure." She mentioned that a good part of the trail was through a swamp (over 100 yards of it), and that it may be too deep to get through this time of year.
(Above is a picture from the Internet of a swamp in the Hoh rain forest. ..sound familiar Twilight fans???) Down, down, down we went, until we came to what looked like a lake/swamp that stretched out further than my eyes could see (it went around a bend), and Amber said that she could not believe how much water there was. (They ride their quads on this trail, so she knew where it was, but said that usually there is only about six inches to one foot of H2O)
(Above is just another picture from the Internet!)
Amber looked at me and asked if I wanted to attempt to follow the trail, and again, I said "sure." We were not sure that the horses would go for it though, because it looked like it may be about 2-3 feet deep. Would they trust us???
Yes they did, and we were quite amazed that they walked through a swamp trail that had water that was so deep that we had to lift our legs. The deepest spot was about three feet deep, and they had to walk through an area that was over 100 yards of total water. And...there was no dry ground to be seen...anywhere.
They never once even acted the slightest bit spooked, or weirded out, but it was kind of a creepy feeling to be surrounded by all of that water. I think that I watch too many horror movies, because I kept waiting for a hand to rise up and grab one of the horses legs...lol!!!


Amber and I really praised the boys while we were going through it, and when we were done, because I am not sure that a lot of horses would have trusted their riders to get them through that. It made me feel good to know that even though I don't have a lot to offer old Bo Bo right now (and of course he doesn't ask for much!) he still felt like I wouldn't ask him to do something that would put us both in danger...either that or he and Waska are just plain stupid...lol!!! Just kidding!
Well it is back to school tomorrow, so I will probably fall behind again. I am apologizing ahead of time...kay???

13 comments:

Paint Girl said...

Sounds like you had a great ride!
The trails we ride on has a large stream that runs through a trail, last summer it just kept getting deeper and deeper, it should have gotten shallower and shallower. We couldn't figure it out, than decided the beavers must have made a dam or something. We ended up not using that trail anymore, the water was up to my Arabs neck! Hopefully this year the water will be back to normal.

Gail said...

Wow! I am sure Charme would go but Knot has a little problem with water and he likes to jump it. Couldn't jump what you went through! I shall work with Knot in warmer weather incase I get to go for a swim.
You had a super perfect day, I envy you!

Fantastyk Voyager said...

WOW! That is way cool.

I'm sure my horses would balk since they hardly ever even see rain. Nadia tries to sidestep mud puddles whenever she can. I tend not to ride in wet weather though because the mud is slippery and I have a fear of horses falling on me.

I love your trails!!!

Pony Girl said...

What a great ride...I loved the Twilight swamp picture, by the way.
One thing to be careful about going through deeper water is to be wary of the footing dropping off suddenly. I L'dOL at your hand reaching up comment, I think I might have had an anxiety attack out in the middle of that swamp, especially not knowing what was ahead! :)
I like your reasons for riding....I'm with you on the "get on and go, been there done that" kind of horse! :)

allhorsestuff said...

You two ROCK!!!
Actually, you 4!
I Loved this and have my own trails stories to share later on tomorrow.

I have to tell you...I am kinda addicted to watching "Twilight", the movie.
I remember when you got into reading it and mentioned it here..I was so aghast still with the Anne Rice bloody-vampires, that I turned off.
Then I had a 13 year old come into my salon and she described the love story of Twilight.
I am hooked...

Okay...back to the trail..loved th your very descriptive ride and all your pictures! Also why you ride....meee tooo!
When I am out there, I worship and praise and all my cares of current times fade away(s)~
My own little rhyme!

Which is Chelsi's blog?
Kac

Laughing Orca Ranch said...

And the truly wild thing is that you weren't 100% sure that there wasn't any danger, but the horses trusted you guys anyway...and took great care of you. Waska and Bo are awesome horses. How lucky and blessed you are to have them to lead you up and down such challenging trails.

:)
~Lisa

Chelsi said...

Hi Melanie! *waves* LOL

Great post! Welcome to the westcoast folks! Water water every where! Very fun story and having owned an Arab I could just feel the jig jig prancing thing they do when they just have to move faster than you'll let them! I loved it (most of the time) That water would be a little creepy! And SOOO cool that he trusted you like that! Must have felt great!


I went skinny dipping with a group of friends in the middle of the night once and one of them dove under the water when I wasnt looking and floated up beside me as if he was a corpse....brushing my leg as he went... OMG... I could have killed him.

Thanks for the nice comments on my post! You're too sweet.

Grey Horse Matters said...

What a great trail ride you guys had. So exciting and different. I love to go on new trails and not just do the same boring ones over and over.
Bo must trust you quite a bit to go through water like that. We once had a horse who would swim in the Sound and go up to boats and splash them, he was a riot. Glad to see you got a day to unstress.

allhorsestuff said...

How is school this week?
I wanted to tell you that I have been thinking of you alot....here posting-The Arabian Quest- and riding out on new trails...it is as ...If I started to talk to you ,you may just be there... Well, I almost did say "hi Mellie" in a video.I found a rather large Pond..and I am NOT Taking my mare in it. not just yet!
Any who, hope your week is going well and your kids are healthy!
XO
Kac

Five O'Clock Somewhere said...

Wow, what a cool trail ride. You are right I do not know of many horses that would do that. Mine doesn't even like to walk through puddles, ugh!

I call being at the barn the time warp. There is no cell phone service there (thankfully), and usually by the time I leave I cannot believe how long I was there. It is my sanity.

Andrea said...

You have some really cool trails there!! I am so jealous!! It looks and sounded like so much fun. I have never ridden a horse in water before. I have gone through a small creek, but that doesn't count. How much fun!!

I am with you on the old reliable horses. I have sent my four year old gelding to a trainer. I am just not going to deal with his four year old antics. I am comfortable on my kids' 20 year old horse!! Love those Steady Eddys

Unknown said...

Thanks for the trail ride recap and nice photos - I like those, keeps my mind off other things, and gives me a break.

Denise- LessIsMore17 said...

I'm jealous of all the trail stories you and others have though Less was never much of a trail horse:-)
Sounds like you had a fun and interesting ride!