Fairmount

J, T, N and I did the Fairmount trail today. It was the first time since the dressage whip episode that N and Cali were on the Fairmount. It was mid 70's with cloud cover (so very unusual for Colorado in July - I'm waiting for the other shoe to drop.) We left just before 2 pm and did the loop in just about two hours.

N tried a hydration pack and it sucked. It was too long to fit her back. Every time we went faster than a walk, the pack bounced up and down on her back, rubbing against her neck. She liked having the water handy (so do I) but the pack isn't the one. I told her we needed to go to REI, try on packs and jump up and down. It should be a hoot.

We went to Tucker Lake and let the horses paw for a few minutes, but not too long because Cali and Ashke both strongly believe that laying in the water is the only true form of water enjoyment. Cali was feeling sluggish and not wanting to canter, so J cut N a "dressage whip" from a Russian Olive Tree. She left the leaves on the end, which we then proceeded to torture Cali with. 

I was going to go down the horse trail, but we lost our hind boots after they got wet (both Cali and Ashke threw their hind boots) and Ashke was too tender on his hinds to manage the rocks on the trail down. It is steep enough that he has to take his weight onto his hind end and that was impossible without the boots. I opted to take the sidewalk with Cali.

We slowed down quite a bit after we lost the boots. Before that, Ashke and I were practicing our letting Cali go in front while we hung back thing. He did better today. We had one moment where I was done with him trying to bolt and made him stand still. When he wanted to move off the request, we did sidepassing until he finally figured out that he needed to stand. 

As we reached the canal, there was a remote control plane doing all sorts of aerial maneuvers. N was a bit worried, but I reminded her not to project onto Cali her anxiety and that if we had to we could get down and hand walk them home. Cali and Ashke were troopers. They didn't mind at all the very loud, gas engined flying machine spinning in circles and loop de loops right over our heads. 

Kudos once again to J, who is riding her bike next to me as we are cantering. I didn't realize you would be able to hear me say, "It's not a race" over and over to my wild unicorn. The flapping objects on my back are my hind boots attached to the hydration pack. 

I am working on getting Ashke to let me wash his face. He gets sweaty there too and his forelock is a mess. There is a mist feature on the spray nozzle that I have been using.

 

Our average would have been better if we would have had the boots still on.