Brother's First Trail Ride

The weather was beautiful yesterday, perfect for a fall ride.  J has been riding Brother around on the farm but this was his first official trail ride.

 Hank waited patiently while J warmed Brother up with a little lunging,

 then flexing,

 then walking around in circles.  

 Everything checked out ok and we were ready to hit the trails.

 J wanted to take my picture to prove I was there,

 but this was my idea of a self portrait.

 Did I mention how beautiful the weather and the trees and the sunshine were?

 The views in places are spectacular.

 You can even see our farm!  I was using the 20x zoom and couldn't really tell how the picture was turning out.  I now wish that I had gotten off and framed the house through the trees a little better.

 Brother is a very fast walker and didn't know the trail but still didn't mind being in front.  He never spooked or shied from anything.  Hank, on the other hand, knows the trails and as soon as we hit the halfway point he took the lead and was headed for home.

There were even a couple of water crossings that Brother aced.  Eight miles of successful riding.  The only problem we had was back at the trailer, Brother didn't want to load.  I guess he was having such a great time he didn't want to leave.  Hank was gently encouraging him from inside the trailer with little whinnies and I was encouraging him from the outside with the lunge whip.  We finally had to spend about 10 minutes lunging and sending him toward the trailer before he loaded.  I guess that will be today's lesson, trailer loading.