My five hour trail ride mistake
Posted by Bill on Apr 20 2008 at 10:33 pm | Tagged as: Riding
Oh, my aching back, legs, rear, etc.! Saturday we spent a wonderful day riding horses next to a beautiful lake. This was supposed to be the day we got Moonshine back to try her new riding skills but due to the incident from a few days ago (Moonshine gets hit by a car), she’s on the injured list and wasn’t ridable. In her place I rode my backup horse, Sinbad, a well broke, ridable by almost anyone kind of horse, 25 years old and still full of energy. Mikki and I met up with our horse friend Shari, Lance (the guy training Moonshine) and some other horse owners. Shari and Lance were kind enough to pick up Valentine and Moonshine on their horse trailers (we need one of those!) and off we went for a day of riding. Now I knew I’d be a little sore because I use a cheap saddle and haven’t ridden any distance in 6 months or so. But five hours later, my rump we tender and I was ready to call it a day. Today, Sunday, I could barely get out of bed. I just may have overdone it. Perhaps we ought to bump a hot tub up on the priority list for future purchases!
Notes from the trip:
- Mikki’s horse Valentine LOVES the water. He was splashing around on it like a little kid. We were all pretty concerned he’d want to roll in it.
- When there are 11 horses together on a trail ride, it makes sense that some of them won’t get along. We had to rearrange horses a few times. For example, Sinbad is a tailgater and the horse in front of us was a kicker. Not a good combo!
- Horses are very good at walking over downed trees, though some like to jump over them.
- Fearing her own weight was giving her horse trouble navigating through some deep water, Shari bailed into the drink and emerged horseless and soaking wet. Her horse was easily caught and she finished the trip still wet.
- Cheap saddles make for sore butts on long rides. According to my body, five hours is considered “long”. You get what you pay for in saddles, apparently.
We’ll definitely head back to this area soon. I’m looking for a new saddle and possibly the add-on gel pads to hold me over. And hopefully a future trip will include Moonshine.
Below are some more pictures from the ride. Yeah, warm weather!
What a beautiful place for a ride. Bummer about the “bum”…hehehe. Thanks for the tip about saddles and getting what you pay for.
Love your website. Found it last week while researching horse leasing and horse life expectancy. What a treasure full of info for a newbie.
We just went out tonight to meet the mare we will be leasing. She is a bit older, but a real sweetie and will be perfect for my 11yr daughters first horse.
We will be regular readers from here on out!
Thanks so much!
Lynda P.
Wa State
What a great day! I had a great day riding today, too. Got to ride my neighbor’s horse in our ‘back 40′
and also ride my own horse around the arena.
Sounds like you might need one of those cool Amish saddles, like Mikki bought a while ago.
How’d she fare after the trail ride?
Sounds like a nice, welcomed distraction from the stuff that’s been going on with Moonshine. And I must say, I am jealous! We’re under almost a foot of snow up here. A springtime trail ride would have been glorious.
Sounds like you had a great ride! We did a ride like that last Memorial Day, it was a blast. Only 2 hours, though. Five hours is a long ride! I hate being sore from riding after a break, can’t move for 3 days!
I can’t afford a new saddle but hope to try one of those cushion saddle seat pads this summer…..
Great pics!
What cool pics and what pretty eyes Sinbad has!
Thanks for your witty and informative posting re: your recent trails ride!
I have a new horse as well (age 17) that has not been ridden much. We are currently bonding and getting to know one another. We see each other every day; she has a good-sized area behind our home to wander around.
Any suggestions re: riding; the last person who rode her was bucked off.
Our experience (on the ground!) is positive; she is very affectionate and takes direction.
We lovingly call her our “Nona Girl” and she responds very well when she hears her name.
Thanks and enjoy reading your site!
Thanks for all the comments everyone! Three days later, I’m finally able to walk and sit without groaning. I’m ready to ride again! This time I’ll choose a shorter ride.
Kate, I feel your pain. Moonshine is the sweetest, most lovable horse I have ever seen. But she like to buck and 10+ year old horses shouldn’t do that. I’m not sure how we’re going to deal with it but follow along and maybe there is some bit of useful info you can gleen from our experiences.
BTW, Mikki wasn’t very sore at all after that same five hour ride, except for her knees. Her fancy (expensive) Henry Miller saddle apparently makes all the difference.