Killian Flies Like The Wind

I took Big K out with Kim and Fawn yesterday. We just wanted to go for a trail ride, nothing crazy so I figured it was a good time for him to get a little exercise.

When we got to Kim's we headed out the back down the trail behind her neighborhood to our usual trail/dirt road but it has been gated up.  We proceeded onward down the road towards where my old house is at.  Just past there is a huge plot of state land with some nice 2 tracks. I used to ride there all the time.  I guess someone bought it because there is now huge no trespassing signs. So we just kept going down the road.

AT the end of the road is a big oil patch.  It seems they must be drilling a new well there because the truck traffic was heavy.  I wasn't worried about my horse, he is used to all types of traffic, but Fawn was a little skittish. She handled it pretty well. The hardest part was keeping the dogs out of the road when the trucks were coming.

Basically what we learned is that in no longer matters in WY that you live in the middle of no where, there are not many places left to ride.

Anyway, back to the actual riding....We did some trotting and boy Killian was sure willing to move out. This is new for him. There was no peddling involved and he even offered up a canter with out being asked.  So I'm going to go out on a limb and say that the shoes are helping.  He is still the roughest horse I have ever ridden and it took most of the ride to get to a gait that I could enjoy (except a walk of course). But once he settled into a nice slow trot, it wasn't too bad. The problem was matching his gait to Fawns. She has a fast trot that is smooth, and for him to match that he had to fast trot also which was awful.  I still think he needs a chiro, but it could just be how he is.

His trot is bone jarring, even posting doesn't really help.  I can sit Trax's trot all day long. I was worn out by time we got back and we did even work up a sweat on our horses.  The cool part though was his willingness to go.

Just plodding along

When we got to the gate to the oil patch- which remains open for all the truck traffic- we decided to ride through it.  There were no signs saying we couldn't just a sign that said "End of county road"  There was a lot of open land and Kim says, "Lets Canter up to the top of the rise and back"

So I asked for it, and boy howdy did he give it to me! He started off on a left lead but something was really off. It was choppy and bad feeling so I made him stop and start again. When he took off on a right lead, he was flying!  He actually wanted to go too. Not like a "I'm going to run away with you", but just a "Hey, my feet don't hurt!" sort of go.

 We loped up to the top and then we stopped turned back down towards the road and headed back out the gate.  We got out just before a big truck came.

When we headed back we rode on the opposite side of the road where there were some bulls behind a fence.

Hello Blackie!

"Hey cow, are you on steroids or something?"

At first Fawn was a little unsure.  Not scared really, she has seen and worked calves before. But I don't think she has been that close to a bull before so she was cautions.

Killian on the other hand was Mr. Cool. He knows what a bull is, and he is not intimidated by any means. In his mind though, bulls mean work, and he is on the lazy side so he was more than happy when we headed on our way.

Fawn says, "I ain't scared"

It was kind of funny though because when we first walked up towards them they moved away. When we stopped they came to the fence to visit, and when we moved away, they followed us.

"I'll move them if you make me, but I'd rather leave them here"

Little Miss Spooks A Lot

Fawn was a little spooky on this trip.  But then she is still quite young, so for her age she does quite well. There was one point when we were riding past a couple of horses who decided to start racing. They were behind us on the other side of a fence, so all we heard were the thunder of hooves.  Naturally, Killian and Fawn both thought that meant danger and they started to run too.  It only took a second to get them under control through.

"I ran vurrrrry fast today!"

All in all it was a good ride. It is nice to see Killian a little more willing to move. He does stumble a lot though. Not sure if it is the shoes or him just being lazy.  Hopefully getting more miles on him will clear that ups some.  I wish I could enjoy riding him more, because when it comes to a good solid trail horse, he is about as good as they get.  Especially if you are just wanting a slow easy ride.  

I think though, that the next time Kim and I trail ride I will find out which horse she is taking before I load up.   If she is riding Fawn, then I need to bring Trax. They are better matched in gaits.  If she brings Schnizzle, then I will take Killian as they are both on the slower easy side.