Be careful what you practice...

I took Santana (a.k.a. "Punkalicious") out on another ride yesterday.   We seem to have found a training issue. Seems he is soooo anxious to go down the trail, my sweet, well mannered boy has decided that standing still to be mounted is just a waste of time.  So, we will be going out there  just to work on that, as that is a major naughty no-no.

So, if you recall, the day before, Santana decided that he LOVES to go over "trail obstacles." He looks for  downed cactus skeletons to step over, over and over again. Kind of like when my brother and I were little kids at he amusement park, and we'd go on the roller coaster, and as soon as we got off, we'd run around to the start to go on again. Or kids who go down the playground slide, over and over and over again.  Well, yesterday in my effort to mount, I found a bench out on a trail that was perfect to use as a mounting block.  It was a nice tall bench, maybe two and a half feet tall. Well, damned if that horse of mine didn't scoot around up to it, (it was taller than his belly) and STEP OVER IT.  I was shocked. By the time I realized he actually did indeed just do  this, he was taking himself for a walk in the desert. Thankfully my friend was on her big Percheron, and was able to go cut him off and stop him, me following behind in total disbelief. I mean, this was a tall bench compared to my little horse.  I will try to go back and get a picture so you can see what I am talking about.  I think we will practice fewer trail obstacles in the future....

The ride itself was fine. We completed a five mile "big boy" trail. Tough terrain, lots of ups and downs, and different footings. He did better today not rushing down hill. We need to work more on not rushing uphill.  We ran into some hikers with a barking, obnoxious dog. Punkalicious was far more concerned with verifying if the people did, or did not, have apples or carrots in their pack.  They did not.  He is a very social horse.  Some mountain bikers went by us at the end of the ride close to the trailhead. He thought it would be fun to chase them, and pouted when I told him "no."  He did do a little better coming back to the trailer. He pouted every step of the way, but I think I only had to slap with with my reins once the whole time. Progress.

Today we are going to a huge obstacle course playdate.  This will be his first event with lots of other horses around. It will be in an arena, so, if he is "overwhelmed" I can take him away.   I think this will be good practice for next week.  What is next week, you ask?  I signed us up for a mounted police training class at the Queen Creek arena.  I think he will enjoy both these things. I'll try to get pictures.....