We traveled about fifteen minutes west where we were brought to the field. There were about thirty horses grazing, all different shapes and sizes and colors. A trailer was brought it with all of their tack, and a farrier arrived to check their shoes and make sure that everyone was in good shape to head out.
Learned from Patricia that the center owns nearly 100 horses. The horses work on a rotating schedule where they work one week, then are rested the following so that no one gets overworked. They are extremely conscienous about the care their horses get, and the farrier would be there every morning to take care of whatever repairs to their shoes need to be made. I was very happy to see that the horses were all in excellent condition – well fed, with glossy coats and alert eyes. Patricia told me that my mount for the week was a full-blooded Irish Draught named Nelly, and pointed her out to me (See A bit about Nelly). Not that she impressed me too much at first, but I wasn’t the only one who felt that way about their horses. Denise was paired with a sorrel Draught mare named Chelsea who had a bit of an attitude and was, to quote Denise, “ugly as a mud fence”.
We each grabbed a few halters and headed out into the pasture to catch the horses. Thankfully, most of them were quite accommodating at came right up to us. A few (Chelsea for one) were a bit more of a challenge. After leading them up the path, we got them tied and the real work started.
It wasn’t all that easy to groom a horse in the light rain, but it gave me a great chance to get to know Nelly as an individual. I had been, admittedly, a bit intimidated by her size when I first saw her. She wasn’t as tall at the hunters, but she was very powerfully built, and I could just imagine the damage she could do with those huge hooves it she actually tried to kick at me. But while I was grooming her, she was quiet and apparently very easy going. Found her tickle spot on her belly and she barely flinched. I learned that the big bay hunter tethered a few horses away was her son, D'Artagnan. She was fairly young, about thirteen, and I was beginning to appreciate her looks. The way I began to see it was that if we were going to be going over the kind of rough terrain that we were heading for, I wanted a strong, sure-footed horse beneath me. What would I rather be riding, a Ferrari or a Land Rover?
I got a little help in tacking up Nelly since it had been quite a few years since I’d had to tack up my own horse, but it was not too hard to figure out. I didn’t think I would have any trouble doing it myself. I liked the fact that none of the horses were fitted with anything more severe than a snaffle bit, which is very gentle on the mouth, and the seat of our saddles had a bit of cushioning to them, so they would be fairly comfortable on the long rides. After a girth check, we mounted up and headed out into the countryside.
I spent the first few minutes focusing on Nelly and getting used to her rather than the scenery. She had terrific gaits, including a trot that had enough bounce that posting was a breeze, but not so much that I would be vaulted out of the saddle. She was responsive to both leg and bit, so I relaxed and began to really enjoy the ride.
The scenery was gorgeous, even in the rain. Lots of farms and pasture land, with plenty of horses and cows grazing. It was always fun to hear the horses whinny a hello to our mounts, and hear them answer back.
After warming up the horses, with a few brisk trots, we broke into a canter and I really got to see Nelly in action. Damn, but could these Draught horses move! There was no hiding the fact that Nellie thought that she was supposed to be ahead of everyone else, and tried to push her way to the lead every chance she could. She was going to be a handful, I could see.
We broke for lunch at the riding center, and learned something else about Nelly. She was an escape artist. I had tethered her in the paddock with the other horses and went inside for lunch. While we were eating, she apparently decided that she didn’t feel like standing in the rain waiting for me. I came out to find that she’d untied herself and was standing under the awning of the stable! Everyone had a good laugh at that, but Nelly didn’t seem to care. She just stood there, looking down her long nose at everyone as if wondering why we weren't smart enough to get out of the rain ourselves. And I was the only one in my group with a dry saddle, so there was a little benefit for me in her antics.
We spent the rest of the afternoon riding the hills around the riding center, riding through more forest and up over the mountains. It even stopped raining by the time we broke for the evening. We untacked the horses and let them out into their evening pasture. The horses seemed glad that the day was over, all of them taking a good roll in the mud. It was so funny, all of them rolling around like big dogs right at our feet, but looking at how dirty they were then they got up I knew it was going to be a pain grooming them tomorrow. Oh, who cares about that? They looked like they were enjoying themselves. After their hard work today, you can't begrudge them a bit of fun.
Lovely dinner again – this time a salad with fried mushrooms and a proper Irish lamb stew with more of that great bread. Dessert was a warm apple crumble topped with whipped cream. Really yummy. Gonna start gaining back some of that weight I lost if we keep eating like this.
One little problem, though – the transmitter for our electricity blew! We had lost all power to the riding center. We ended up eating dinner by candlelight. That wasn’t so bad, but aside from lights, our water-pump is off line. That means no showers, no running water, and no flushing toilets until its fixed tomorrow! Felt very sorry for one woman in the group named Ann who had decided to be nice and let her husband shower first – she had planned to shower after dinner. This was not a happy woman!
Since we have no lights and reading is out, all of us headed to bed early. Our little house wasn’t quiet so cheerful without lights, and it was cold too!
Oh well. Still had a great time today, and we have a long day planned for tomorrow. The extra sleep was going to do us some good.
