Turkey Trot Trail Ride

Nina & Harley

Another best birthday ever! John and I took Nina and Harley on a SMART ride today, their last of the season, the November Turkey Trot. With a borrowed truck, a borrowed trailer, and a borrowed horse (Little Nina), we set out for an adventure in the South Berwick hinterlands. And what a day it was.! We had a frosty start, but once the sun cleared the tree tops, the temperatures rose into the high 50's/low 60's. Most of the snow melted, leaving the trails quite mucky in low places, and brooks running with plenty of water. Harley crossed them without a twitch!  He still amazes me, how far he has come in a year and a half.
The trails covered a fair portion of land we've cross country skied, so much of it was familiar. But it's always fun to be in new territory. Without our own trailer, we're limited to the trails in our immediate neck of the woods, although both horses have traveled a far piece on some of our trips.

Eeyore

We got back in the early afternoon, intending to put the horses in the trailer and have some lunch (they served up a Thanksgiving meal!), but Harley decided he wanted no part of getting onto the trailer and after spending a long time (with help and different techniques) trying to load him, we gave up. He actually sat down, rather than stepping up the ramp! He didn't act panicky, just sick and tired us urging him on. Harley looked rather like Eeyore (see picture at right)--just sitting there with an "I've had enough" expression on his face.I took the truck and trailered Nina home, my first time driving a horse trailer, I might add! John put a dry pad on Harley, fetched a dry girth, and hacked him home, reaching the barn at 4:45, just as it was starting to get dark. That dang horse! Looks like we need to spend some time working on trailer loading before we attempt another ride.

End of the ride