Our First Walking Trail Ride

RHR: 36



HR on Return: 56



Distance: 7.5 miles



Average Speed: 3.5 mph



Time: 2 hours, 20 minutes



I took Hoss out to the Steele Canyon bridge for this ride. He was quite happy with the prospect of walking, until we hit the part of the trails where I've always let him go at speed. So, I ended up letting him canter for a little bit. After all, it's not like it has to be a walking only trail ride. It just needs to be a mostly walking trail ride. The big thing we did this day was hill work.



We headed up what is locally known as the Ribbon trail, which is steep. Having walked it in the past, I can say it is a challenge. I felt like I needed rock climbing gear to make it up! Hoss walked up with his usual grace on this rutted, over-used trail. A lot of mountain bikers use this trail for extreme downhill stuff. They've set up jumps and the like all up this trail. There are bypasses for the horses, but even with these, it is a challenge. Much of the trail has suffered from erosion. There are a lot of exposed rocks that can turn under a foot. Even with all that, it makes a fabulous place to work a horse.



After topping the hill, we went down the back side and up onto the SDG&E access road. There had been significant rain in the preceding days, and the road was still a little wet, though not slick. I saw a lot of deer tracks. Once, when my daughter and I were riding this area together, we saw several mountain lion prints. This day, fortunately, I didn't see any.



This access road is steep in many places. Since the trucks they use in these areas can pretty much climb a wall, these roads can be just about as steep as they want them to be. I've seen roads that I wouldn't walk up, much less send my horse up. Forget going down any of those!



We made our way around to the steep downhill part of the trail. This section is, again, rutted and washed out from rains. It's not unusual to have to create a new trail to avoid something perilous. I've noticed that Hoss likes to go fast downhill. His gait gets rough and sloppy. So, I have started working on making him move more smoothly and use his hind end more appropriately. I'm pretty sure that what he's doing is just sort of flopping on his front end instead of using his butt to move downhill.


Once back down to the river, we wended our way around and crossed. Once across, I held him back from our usual breakneck run along what I call the "grey road." He was okay with this. I was surprised. At the top of the first rise, I turned Hoss up onto the trails on this, the other side of the river from where we had started. We've done this path before, but never at a leisurely pace. We wended our way up and around and back down and to the bridge back toward the trailer.



All in all, it was an uneventful ride. Beth, my trainer, was worried that I'd be bored with walking. I was a little worried I'd find it boring and annoying. In truth, it's nice. I find it relaxing. There's not the pressure of trying to make a certain average speed. I get to ride along and listen to a book, and check out the scenery, and just be with my horse and my dogs. I like it. I hadn't realized how much I like walking rides.