First Ride in Four Months

 It's been almost 6 months to the day since the first time I rode Flint and it was time to ride him for the first time since we had moved. I was nervous leading up to the ride, after all, we hadn't ridden for about 4 months and I've read so many 'horror' stories about riding on a horse that hadn't been ridden in a while. Horses that are restless, gallop away without their rider, pig-rooting and all sorts of other crazy things. We don't have access to a yard where we can lunge the horses before a ride so it was saddle up and go. It was a bright sunny day and I enlisted Andy's help as the photographer to mark this wondrous occasion. 

Inside the paddock, we brushed our horses down and saddled them up. I asked Heather a couple times to check the girth and when we took them out and I was about to mount, she stood in front of Flint, 'just in case'. He stood still and we moved out of the way so Heather could get on Jasper. We went for a little walk behind our home and the boys were great! A big expanse of paddocks were on the horizon and we could just make out the cattle further down the track.

We turned them around and headed back down the driveway. The horses being agisted on the other side of the road, wanted to join in the fun, calling out and walking alongside the fence, yet Jasper kept walking. Flint hesitated and after a bit of cajoling, he decided he didn't want to be left behind either and quickly moved to join Jasper. They both walked past their paddock without a sideways look which I took as a good sign that they were happy to be out on this adventure. 

Further down the driveway, we kept going, mostly staying in the grass alongside the driveway which is softer on their feet. We walked up a steep hill, although I allowed Flint to canter a few steps just to see how he went. He was lovely! At the top of the hill, we sat and admired the view and then zig-zagged our way back down. In Heather's words, "I don't feel like doing a "Man from Snowy River" ride this afternoon.

On the way back, we allowed the horses to walk on the grass alongside the driveway and when we got back to our place, we dismounted and headed back into the paddock again to untack them. They hadn't even worked up a sweat!

For horses that hadn't been ridden in 4 months, they didn't put a hoof wrong. I was so pleased with Flint and I look forward to the next ride when we plan to go out of the property and up the road a bit. We want to increase the length of the ride each time. 

Bring on daylight savings when the days are longer and warmer!