Wizard Rides 397, 398, & 399: I am the Least of Your Problems

Wizard on the trail

Wednesday, 8/15/12

After work, I hit the trails with Christie and Brigid. We did more riding at the trot and canter, and Wizard got a little amped up. He leapt into a canter whenever Brigid jigged a little. I need to do some serious work on long trotting and let Wizard find his pace on the trails. We rode out to the “roller coaster” field, but did not have a lot of time to ride in the trails nearby since it was getting late and the trails were a little slick from the rain. We got back as it was getting dark. We dodged raindrops on the way out and hit a nice patch of weather.

Friday, 8/17/12

After work, I met up with Cathy and Miss Tuesday for a trail ride. Wizard was awesome- calm and forward. We trotted down the dirt road toward the Horse Park entrance and walked the rest of the ride, through the fields by the Hunt Club. We arrived back at the barn at dusk, with chirping crickets and a few fireflies.

Saturday, 8/18/12

The overnight rain cooled things off for a really nice riding day. A little before noon, I headed out on the trails with Kris/Sunny and Christie/Brigid. At the beginning of the ride, I was delighted with Wizard’s mood. He was perfectly content to be the last horse in the group, walking happily behind his girlfriend, Sunny. He was relaxed and loose, and I rode him on the buckle. A little less then an hour into the ride, Christie parted company to ride Brigid further out on the trails. Kris and I headed back toward the barn. We came across our barn buddies Lisa and Cathy on the way back, and we all rode together. When we got near the barn, Kris and Lisa left us and headed home. Cathy and I turned back around and continued our ride.

Wizard got a little worked up when we joined into a group of 4 horses. He was manageable, but antsy. He responded well to me when we split up the group, but got a little jiggy again when Cathy and I headed back out. We did a little bit of trotting in hopes of letting him settle and stretch his legs. But he stayed tense. We met up with Christie when we were headed out to the stream, and the three of us rode around the edge of the “bowling pin” field to the side fields. Wizard did not get any less anxious, and by the time we were heading into familiar fields, he was cantering in place, snorting and dancing. Both mares (and riders) did a really nice job of keeping their cool while I sat quietly on Wizard during his antics.

We zig-zagged through the fields and made our way back to the barn. I’m not sure if it was the length of the ride, or the splitting up of the trail riding group that got Wizard so wound up. When we returned to the barn, I did some ring work and he FINALLY settled. He was still pretty energetic, but was able to put that energy into some nice trot and canter work.

I cooled him out after our ride and went to the tack shop and bought more rice bran. He gained a little bit of weight, but still needs more.