Artie has spent a great amount of time under saddle recently, and while he has been on the occasional traipse around the property, he had yet to explore the big wide world… until now!
We at SAFE are lucky enough to be situated beside a park, which means we essentially have backyard access to horse trails. With the weather how it is, dry and hot, we do our best to make it out for trail walks as often as our busy days allow for. Some days, this looks like us handwalking our horses through the forested trail, reminiscent of going on a hike with an overlarge dog. But other times, the horse is feeling so good and the timing is right that we can ride out. Everyone has to have their first ride sometimes, and recently, it was Artie’s time to test his mettle out away from the comfort of his familiar round pens and arenas.
As you can see, he did a stellar job. Almost immediately after walking on to the quiet of the trail he let down with several big exhalations. He was comfortable leading the pack, but was equally as relaxed when his temporary herdmates disappeared around a bend and he lost track of them.
Artie is still available for adoption as a riding horse. He is still quite green, so will need more miles under saddle out on the trails with a confident rider, but from what we’ve seen thus far it looks as though Artie could really go places as far as being a little trail pony goes.
