Yep, it's official my Thoroughbreds are actually mountain goats disguised as horses. One of my very good friends, who coincidentally owned Scotty back when he was a young'en, was in town for the holidays and I was lucky enough to have the day off of work because of the holidays, so she came over to meet Reily and go for a trail ride. Now I've always really admired that she's gotten out there and done a lot of really cool things in her life, one of which includes being a TB exercise rider at tracks both here in the States and over in France for a time. So she was looking forward to meeting Reily and I was really excited to get her opinion of him in person. We chatted while we groomed and tacked up Boo and Reily then we headed out for a nice long trail ride. We didn't want to take Reily on the road yet and we had her dog with us too and it was her pup's first time around horses in general and therefore her very first time running along on a trail ride so we didn't want her near the road either. So instead of heading down the driveway we headed up the back of the property to the mountains that our farm butts up against. There are plenty of old logging trails up there and they range from nearly flat to VERY steep. The longest trail you can follow goes over the mountain and comes out the other side at a house owned by an old family friend who has always allowed me to come out at her house and then zig zag back down the side of the mountain on her driveway which eventually comes back out on the road that leads to our driveway. However to get across the very top of the mountain there's only one choice of trail... and you guessed it, that trail is about a quarter mile climb up a 60 or so degree incline, then a nice resting spot before another slightly shorter, less steep climb. No joke. Boo and I use this mountain on a somewhat regular basis to keep him fit and do conditioning for Horse Trials but I was pessimistic about whether Reily was going to be able to handle this, or if it was fair to ask it of him. In the end we decided we'd just make as many stops as we needed to on the way up and concluded that it would be good for his butt muscles to make the climb, so up we went!
And wouldn't you know it, those two scrambled right up that path like they'd been doing it all their lives. Well, Boo has for a long time, but I was impressed that Reily only needed one short breather on the first climb and went right through the second just fine. He was a total champ about the experience all together! There are a few tight paths where you have to squeeze through single file, including one spot where a vine hangs down right at the horses' chest level and you have to walk them up far enough to grab hold of it and hold it up out of the way for them while you walk under it. Now that's something he's definitely never done before but it was all just no big deal with him. He's so laid back and he thinks things through before tackling the issue. I love him and I love his very good brain!
We got over the mountain and started down the driveway. When we were still a little ways off the road we cut off into the woods again, avoiding the road as mentioned, coming out on our driveway and walked them back home that way. We had a great time and when we got home my friend and I played musical horses so she could ride Reily for a minute and feel how me moved. I was glad to hear that she felt he has a lot of potential. Afterwards we finished cooling them out, untacked and groomed them down. The boys were happy to get end of ride treats, and we were happy to hand them out liberally after such a good ride!
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