Yesterday was just about the perfect day. Blue skies, light breeze, late spring flora in full bloom. It was a perfect day to visit Maudslay State Park in Newburyport, Ma. So we loaded up and off we went for an adventure on the Merrimack River.
Here she is at the trailer waiting to be bridled.
Once mounted up, we began the trek across the wide open fields towards the pine forest. Daatje hates wide open fields with nothing in them. Scary nothingess, I call it. There's nothing there to be afraid of, but she insists on cautiously approaching whatever may be hiding in the grass. Not very much fun for a rider who wants to gallop off into the distance with reckless abandon, but quite safe for the rider who just wants to amble along. So, a frustrated me, and a wary Daatje proceeded through the fields and into the depths of the park.
The flowers were blooming and were quite beautiful.
We came to the stone bridge which Daatje didn't want to cross. It doesn't matter how many times she's crossed it and not been eaten, she swears there's horse eating trolls under there. (rolls eyes)
I had to take this shot, just to show how awesome her hooves are. She is barefoot, and was cruising over terrain that looked like this:
It was a lovely day and the ride went well as far as rides on Daatje go. She is not, and never will be, the bold, brave, fast soul that I want in a partner and that has me in a funk more often than not. I love her. I don't want to sell her, but in truth, she'd be better suited to a middle age dressage adult amateur who wanted to keep the work to the arena and venture out for a relaxed slow trail ride once and a while. I love her and I don't want to let her go, but she drives me nuts.
Oh well. It was a lovely day for a ride anyway.
Here's a video clip of me attempting to canter back to the starting point. She's wary of the trees on the right, so as the clip moves along, she's drifting left. With the camera in my right hand, I couldn't use the rein to correct her and she wasn't responding to my left leg. Eventually, she stops, despite my leg on, to stare at some people walking in the distance. Sigh. I wish to god I could sell this mare. Her idea of a fun time and mine do not overlap very much!
But she's pretty. And she's my bottle baby. And I love her. But it's way too expensive to keep a horse when you're not feeling like you're getting the whole package. And right now, I feel like I don't even own a horse because the one I do isn't cut out for what I like to do.
I can't event. I can't do hunter trials. I can't even go for a gallop at Maudslay without an argument. I am not a dressage afficionado so wth am I doing with a horse who wants to be strictly a dressage horse?
I love her and I can't bring myself to say goodbye. Damn it.
