[HairOfTheDog]

Trail ride pics! First ride of the season :~)

ecurbh trying to remember where all the straps go I think ;~)

And we're off :~)

The theme for the day is storm damage... I took over a hundred pictures of downed trees... after awhile they're repetitive... I'll try not to overwhelm the thread :~\

Bay has never liked logs on the side of the trail... I call them 'trail pigs' or something. Here, look at his ears... he's looking at them on both sides ;~)

ecurbh having to go around a root ball pulled out of the ground.

In the creek... this was right about the time Cyn decided she didn't want to be in the creek any more and started lunging out. ecurbh hung on... just like he always has :~)

The edges of clear cuts, and isolated stands of trees they try to leave in the middle of them were just flattened... half the trees were blown over.

That creek is actually our trail... the pond/creek was overflowing here and running down the trail. ecurbh had to convince Cyn this was OK to walk in... I named her "Dances in Creeks".

Thought that was interesting :~)

And this was interesting :~)

Just more trees down.... everywhere you look...

Bay even ~almost~ stopped snorting at those big root ball monster things.

Toward the end I got down and walked a bit... I thought Bay would appreciate it, and I need the exercise...

All in all, good ride... we just did a short loop today, will probably do the same short loop a few times before we go on the longer loops. Didn't Bute Bay before hand... and he was good... not as hot as I thought he'd be... wonder if he would have been a little more hyper if I had...

[PayNoAttentionManBehindCurtain]

Hey, great pictures. You do have a lot of downed trees. Is this trail any part of what I rode? Nothing looks familiar.

Becky

[Beaker]

What caused all the downed trees? Especially the ones with the root balls. Did you guys have really high winds at one point?

[PayNoAttentionManBehindCurtain]

So do you think your new pad worked well, or was it a long enough ride for you to know?

Becky

[Duchess47]

Incredible damage in those pictures. The trees in the tops of other trees remind me of the hurricane damage from I think it was Hugo, between Fayetteville and the coast when we drove down.

You guys should be very proud of your horses, handling all the scary things without major upsets :)

[PayNoAttentionManBehindCurtain]

Didn't Bute Bay before hand... and he was good... not as hot as I thought he'd be... wonder if he would have been a little more hyper if I had...

Went back this morning now that I'm fresh and not looking thru sleepy eyes:), and noticed this comment:). These are just observations from things I've gathered from here, you know the horse and are there, so are the best judge.

I don't think I would be giving him bute every ride for several reasons. One it will mask pain that you may need to know about. If he is walking sound, hyperness/hyperless isn't brought on by bute. You said last year that he was slow on the way out and picked up on the way back. You finally figured out he was just cheating you on the way out, didn't have anything to do with him being off. Maybe this year he is just learning to pace himself, which IMO, is a good thing. As long as he is sound and not just dragging. I'd think he was fine and wouldn't bute him.

One other thing. You did work him several times this week. That will calm a horse down. Consistency. But if you ARE thinking his hyperlessness could mean soemthing was off...I was surprised when you posted the pictures...that you worked him for 20 minutes jumping. Maybe that made him a bit sore? From everything I've read about navicular, jumping can be a major contributor to navicular because of the high impact. You do worry a lot about him being navicular, so I was surprised you would do that.

I am not questioning your judgment here. I was just surprised. IMO, Bay is fine, looks great, and sounds like he is great. I wouldn't bute just because of a lack of hyperness. Of course your comment may not have even been intended to get feedback on:), if so just ignore what I've said:).

The downed trees...wow, I noticed more this morning just how many there are, and that someone has been busy cutting them up to open the trails. I swear everytime I ride in my woods and look at our trees, I always think...that one is tall, but doesn't come close to the ones in Wash. and Hair has some in her front yard. I think that was the coolest thing about Wa. That you had trees like that just standing in your front yard. I couldn't move from that place unless I was moving somewhere where there was some just like them in the front yard:)

Becky

[FrogInABlender]

Great trail pics Hair! Now your trails look like mine. But it looks like they did a really good job of getting them passable.

We had a great ride on Friday. I’ll post the pics when I get caught up reading the thread.