I spent my birthday exactly as I dreamed of as a kid: I went for a trail ride with my very own horse. The princess and I hacked out to the Hollis Town Forest for some conditioning work. This is also the first time I tried actually navigating the loops without anyone to spot me. I'm rather infamous for my ability to get lost. We went for a lovely trot, then took a canter down the fire road. A recently discovered single track trail gave us a necessary walking break. I've found that Fi and I really enjoy these rough, single track trails where we're weaving around trees and limbs. I really think she missed her calling as a trail horse. She'll do this on a loop rein at the walk for as long as I want to be out there.
I don't think she'd ever win a trail competition, since she always walks like she's got somewhere to go and doesn't want to be messed with, but she really is a delight to take out trail riding.
After the single track, we went for a long trot/canter along snow mobile trails that are wide and fabulously well groomed. We did stop for the various pedestrians and dogs that we met. We also stopped so I could snap a picture of one of the ponds that are found in the forest.
Have I mentioned how much I love riding in New Hampshire where I can hack out to things like this? After about an hour of wandering around the town forest at a brisk trot, interspersed with the occasional canter, we made our way back to the barn. It was the ideal way to spend a birthday. There's nothing more pleasant than taking a well trained, fit, trustworthy horse out for a nice run in the woods. When I was a little girl, I wanted nothing more than to own my very own horse so I could go out and do things like this. How cool it is to actually be able to do exactly what you once dreamed of doing?
In my opinion? Wicked cool.
I know that feeling. I have the pony I always wanted as a kid. :D My life is awesome.
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