Anna and I hosted the first Mystic Pony Club Pachaug Turkey Trot today.  We didn’t have a very large participation from the club, but the kids that rode had a good time.

It was the first time I have ridden Misti in 4 weeks (since the infamous Ayer Mt Hunter Pace).  Misti finished her Oxytetracycline for her Lyme treatment this morning and has been on Gastrogard for 5 days.  We started with Anna working her on the lunge line for about 20 minutes.  Then Anna rode her for a while in the arena.  Then I rode her in the arena.  She got a break while we tacked up the rest of the crew and then we mounted up for some more work in the arena as everyone warmed up.  It was so nice to have a good ride.  I was very anxious about how she would behave, and she was great.

During the warm up, Amanda worked on her trotting with Huey.  You can watch the video here.  During the trail ride, Anna kept a line from Dakota to Huey to prevent him from deciding to head home early.

Once everyone was ready, we headed out for a nice 4.5 mile ride.  It was Alex on Nike, Christina on Saffron, Alexis on Ace, Vicki on Devil, Amanda on Huey, Anna on Dakota, and I was on Misti.  We crossed water, encountered vehicles, hikers, and bikers with no drama.  I have to say, the Best Pony Award goes to Dakota.  He is just a rock star on the trails and doesn’t care if the lead line to Huey wraps around his legs, under his tail, or anywhere else.  That pony is one of the best chances we ever took.

The bottom line is, we had a great day enjoying the outdoors and riding as a group.  Misti spent over 3 hours under saddle and redeemed herself.  Amanda rode Huey for 2 hours straight.  I hope everyone else had a good conclusion to their holiday weekend.  Enjoy the pictures.