Yesterday, Blessi and I went on a trail ride with some friends who
ride their horses (a Curly and a Tennessee Walker) in search and
rescue. It was our second 1 1/2 hour trail ride of the season since
we are building up stamina for horse and rider after the winter arena
work. The trail at Greenmountain WA is beautiful even though we only
made it halfway up (or maybe a 1/4 way). Most of the trail was in
the pine woods along a beautiful, birch lined stream. Beavers dams,
lodges, and beaver chewed trees are frequently encountered.
Blessi was just awesome on this ride. To get to the trail, we had to
ride up and down a very narrow, twisty, rocky footpath. I had
forgotten how wonderful and surefooted Icelandics are on this type of
terrain. They are so surefooted and, whether it is their short legs
or build, I did not feel out of balance on the grade changes.
For the first time, I rode Blessi over bridges. The second bridge
was about 20 feet long, with rails, and cross bars on the surface.
Plus two girls were playing at the stream under the bridge and had
left their bikes over turned at the end of the bridge. The lead
horse did some minor refusal because of the bikes at the end of the
bridge but Blessi crossed it like we were crossing a driveway at the
home stable. (Based on Blessi's behavior, I can only guess that he
had a lot of bridge experience before I got him.)
At one point, two bicylists dismounted to push their bikes past the
horses. All of the horses were calm so this was a courtesy rather
than a necessity. One bicylist actually brushed against Blessi's
chest and the other went about two feet from his tail. We had to
laugh when the bicylists remounted and started riding away. Both
Blessi and the TW gave some slight pressure at the reins indicating
they wated to chase after the bicylists. A dog on a leash even
lunged at Blessi and there was no reaction.
During this ride, I faced some minor challeges and pushed my riding
skills just a bit. I got most of my confidence from Blessi. And my
riding companions and their horses were just wonderful. It was a
fabulous day.
Pamela and Blessi
