Trail Riding Training: Hand Walking and Riding- November

November 4th, 2020-

I started this new month with some more hand walking to get us started. We decided to go on the trail to the left. The tarp was still there but she walked past it without freaking out too much and got some well deserved carrots. There is a ranch on the other side of this big field, on the left of the picture, and there they were moving around a lot and making a lot of noise so that was making her very nervous. She started to make circles around me and was running into the twigs, so instead of taking her further and having a struggle, we turned around and went back. She was much calmer and telling her a story also helped. Abigail held her by the cows and I went to go see them. She enjoyed the break and just being able to look at them. The ranch across that field started to have more going on so the other trail path became better to take. This trail she did have a little struggle but she worked through it and did well.

November 13th, 2020-

This was one of the first trails that I rode with Ashkar. Abigail came along too, walking next to us, but Rockstar stayed behind for this one. Ashkar is a great trail horse when going out alone, she needs to work on going out on group trails too though. She is also quite a fast horse in general so we were able to get through the trail pretty quick. She still needs to work on stopping too when I ask her but that was something we worked on a lot later. On the trail, I took her to the bus stop and then around a u-turn type hill and back. On the way out she was calm and focused on the trail which was great. Going back to the barn she was very distracted and ready to try to trot back if she could. I was able to keep her pretty clam though and noted to work on that for future trails. There was a big pile of logs on the side of the trail which made her nervous and she started to try to back up but went past it calmly anyways. She also had a problem where if we stopped for even a short time she would start to get very anxious. This was probably because it was the first time and she didn't know the reason we stopped, which gave her anxiety. She also had a small issue going up the small hill to get into the barn and tried to turn around on the small ledge. We worked on that later too. She did fantastic on this trail.

November 18th, 2020-

I slowly wanted to go farther and farther, like I did with hand walking her, while riding on trail. This was the second trail ride that we went on for this project. She did a good job of staying focused this time around and looked to be feeling a little more comfortable. I did have to take her out on trails after school and by that time it was close to dusk which could have played a role in her being a little lively on these trails. We walked the same trail as before but instead of turning around we crossed another street and kept walking. I wasn't sure how she would react, she was kind of speeding up and nervous. The trail was overgrown so we decided to end it there and go back, a little farther is just as much progress as anything. As we turned around and went back something scared her and she freaked out and bucked a bit. We just continued on and the rest of the ride she was great, she was just very excited to get home. Telling her a story always calms her down though. On the first couple of trail rides, she would be very focused on other things going on around her but just working together and bonding helped with this a lot. She did develop a slight fear for walking up or down hills because she can't see that far ahead and see what is there though. There was definitely progress made on this trip though.

November 25th, 2020-

Rockstar and Abigail both came out on this trail with Ashkar and I. Rockstar and Abigail walked along next to us. Ashkar began getting very nervous of going out on the trail because of all of the things lining the small slope to get out and would not go past all of it. She usual can get past these types of things but this was something that was very scary for her so she was adamant. Abigail ended up walking Rockstar down first and then Ashkar felt more comfortable following him. They both did great going out. Ashkar is significantly faster than Rockstar so there were a couple times were I had to wait for them to catch up. We turned around to go back a little closer than we had been working on since Rockstar was with us. On the way back, they were both very fixated and Ashkar had a little fit and did want to walk back, or walk down the little hill into the wash. Again, Rockstar went down first and then Ashkar followed. Rockstar was such a good boy on this trail and, although she had a few issues, she did a good job too.