Mustang Saga

It was hot. I am really glad we were in the shade most of the time. I worry that the ride was too much for Tonka but so far all I see in him is slowness since we got home, no obvious rock hard muscles.

I cold hosed his legs really well when we got home, and briefly hosed his body. Does anyone know if cold hosing is good or bad for a horse prone to tying up? I wasn't sure so I compromised and didn't hose his muscles for long. I'll have to look it up and ask my vet.

During the ride Tonka was surprisingly relaxed toward the front of that large group of horses. I think there were 19 of us. Normally there would be enough nerves in a group like that to get him a little worried but he settled right in and chugged along. It wasn't until the ride back, when we got left behind a couple times by jiggy, rushed horses, that he got really nervous and upset. The horseflies didn't help either. I finally waited for the slower group to catch up and he settled very happily into the middle of that group.

In all it was about 4 hours of riding, not counting the lunch break. I don't know how many miles because of a glitch with the trail ap on my phone. It somehow got uninstalled. Oh well.

Here are some photos from the ride.

A quick break:

Down near the creek, Bob and Lea in the lead:
And behind, same place:

I like this picture:I should probably point out that at least half of the horses on the ride were not mustangs. Some BCH people came, as well as Mustang Club members who don't currently ride mustangs. They were all beautiful horses, whether mustang or domestic, and all were good trail mounts.

We saw a flock of birds soaring in circles above us, sometimes catching the sun and glinting like silver. Some of the riders thought they were geese but I figured geese never fly silently. Others thought bald eagles but the color didn't seem right to me. When I got home and looked at a photo I took with zoom, I realized they were herons. We were above a marsh area. Pretty neat, I never knew they flocked like that.
Coming up on Indian Cliffs, with a view of Lake Chatcolet and the St. Joe river.

Lunch break.

That's all I've got. Happy Trails!