Well, last weekend anyway. Brother had thrown a shoe but luckily Hank and Jessica still had theirs and they were both in good health. J had not ridden Jessica in quite awhile. She did wonderful, so I think J really enjoyed the brief change from Brother.
The weather was perfect, in the low 70's so the horses didn't have to work too hard. Hank is 20 and Jessica 16 and not quite 100% after her bout with Lyme disease. Therefore, we try to take it pretty easy on them.
I use to not let my horses eat on the trail. That is until my first endurance ride several years ago. At the half way point Jessica had slightly decreased gut sounds and the vet recommended letting her eat along the trail on the way back. It was difficult to do because I had never let her eat while riding so she wasn't really trying to. I ended up leading her for a bit and pulling leaves off and handing back to her until she figured out it was ok. Since then I decided that if they aren't doing it in an annoying way, what's the harm of letting them snatch a few leaves along the way.
Anyway, Hank was a superstar and a pleasure to spend 3 hours with.
J thought Jessica looked prettier than usual and wanted to commemorate it with a picture.
The forecast is for rain for the next couple of days but maybe we will get another ride in before the long weekend is over.
1 comment:
Living the dream. It is hard to change habits (allowing eating while riding) but it sounds like your conclusion is sound. I did not realize that horses ate tree leaves.
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