I seem to be a little behind in documenting my adventures in this blog, so I am going to try and get caught up following my calendar of events from this past year.
I belong to OHC for Montgomery County - and while I haven't attended many events, I like the program and what they stand for. They do a lot of amazing work on some of my favorite trails around home.
OHC sends out monthly newsletters, as well as organizes a lot of rides in the parks closest to home. They almost always do a moonlight ride on full moons - and I had seen many email come through and finally decided I wanted to try it out.
Haylie, Colette & I (along with Naven) showed up at the last minute as the group was preparing to leave. They were kind enough to wait on us, and luckily we had tacked up all the horses before we loaded them in the trailer so they were ready to roll once we unloaded.
Most of the OHC members ride some kind of gaited horse. My horses being gaited, I thought we should have no problem. Boy was I wrong! I decided to take Ace on this ride - as Ace and I have a better connection since I've had him longer and I knew this might be a challenging ride for me since it was dark and I would really have to trust my horse.
Poor Chance, Colette's breeding stock paint, did not know what he had signed up for! Ace did his very best to keep up but I did end up letting him trot to keep up. His poor little rack just isn't as fast as those walking horses!
We had a couple water crossing, at which Ace proved yet again why he will have a permenant home in my barn for the rest of his lifetime. He waltzed through without a hint of hesitation. However, the New Vocations Standardbred mare that Haylie was riding (her first trail ride) was not sure convinced this water wasn't going to swallow her whole! Ace was a very good boy and helped to encourage (aka - DRAG) her through the water crossings.
By this point, I'm pretty sure the OHC group (who had just met us all for the first time) was now convinced we all three were entirely crazy lol. We showed up late, with our horses tacked up. We brought a three year old on a night ride, and had a horse with us that had been under saddle all of a week and was on her first real trail ride.
Thank goodness for our guides that were familiar with the trails! I doubt I would have made it if not! The group was very accomodating to us having to stop for Naven's potty breaks and for our lessons on the water crossings.
All in all, we had a very good time. I will not lie - there were a couple times in the woods when my "suicide" reflex kicked in and I cranked back on my reins and squeezed my legs in fear when I could no longer see my horses head, much less where his feet were landing! It was an amazing exercise in trust and I left feeling a whole new appreciation for all the hard work I have put in to Ace. He is worth his weight in gold!
And regarding those OHC riders - they are serious! I like to think we put on some pretty decent miles when we go riding, but after a 2.5 hour ride in the dark trying to keep up with them, my legs were in jello-state when I hopped off and I nearly hit the ground! I felt it the next day and I'm sure Ace did too!
