More River Fun

Yesterday, two friends and I returned with our horses to the river to swim! Before we hit the water, we rode about 6 miles along a flat converted rails-to-trail.

We had a fun day. Neither of my friend's horses had been swimming before, but both took to the water like hippopotamuses ("river horses")! Guinness went in deeper than last time, but was nowhere near as enthusiastic as the two mares who splashed & wallowed. We pulled out earlier than planned due to a flotilla of canoes needing to use the boat ramp - talk about a weird thing to desensitize your horse to..

Milestones:

• 2nd time mounting Guinness from the ground (the saddle stayed straight)!
• short canters along the trail
• sidepassed both directions along trail

Needs work:

• maintaining a consistent gait
  

I'm going to find some time to play with him this weekend, and perhaps to ride at home (which I haven't done since I blogged about it 2 months ago). Other than that, our next engagement will be the final trail obstacle group lesson next Tuesday.