I am so excited, I can hardly contain myself! Today was the day! Gillian Larson (long-rider, thru rider) picked up Dalton so he could begin his training.
Here is my blog post about my interview with Gillian. Quick refresher: Gillian has ridden the Pacific Crest Trail, the Arizona Trail and many more. She does it on her own, with two of her equines.
Wow. I love that. Meeting her was such a stroke of luck for me. Asking her if she’d be willing to train my horse (and her saying ‘YES’ )was another lucky break… and then her moving a few cities away was the crowning glory.
This is Gillian with her fav mare.
A lovely shot…
What I dream of doing with my horse. With a great horse.
TRAINING DALTON WITH GILLIAN WILL BE A GREAT BAROMETER
I know Dalton prefers the trails to the arena, but I only rode him on trails he knew – before I had my hip replaced. Since then, he and I haven’t been anywhere. I looked and looked but never found a boarding facility that had riding outside the gate. Not here. Land is too precious for grapes…
But, to be honest, this is the best result anyway! He will be down in a cooler climate. He will be trained and will get to visit and hopefully ride him with Gillian on her trails!
We will know what kind of a trail horse he will be…and go from there.
Dalton will be more ready than I will be! – Maybe. I’m SO READY.
PHOBLOG OF TODAY.
I got up early and made sure that Dalton was presentable and that the paddocks were picked clean. Then, I sat in my shady chair and waited. Dalton was eyeballing me the whole time. I had told him about this day and he was ready.
I was surprised but happy to see a bumper pull trailer. That will be easier to maneuver up here.
My heart was in my throat, I was so excited!!
Tucker sponsors Gillian. She told me that she was confident she has a saddle that will fit him.
Gillian brought her buddy who is on the Pacific Crest Trail right now! Except she took a little break and came along to pick up Dalton.
I was so busy making sure everything was just right, I forgot to take any pics of Dalton!! But here he is, getting into the trailer. It took about 5 minutes. The entire entourage of equines here were braying and whinnying … cacophony.
He’s IN! Dalton won’t get into my 50/50 trailer, but he likes full doors. I’m sure it feels less oppressive. After lots of trailering, I hope he will get into mine…
Close it up! Mo is watching on the right.
Divider done. Time to get out.
Dalton was not happy and the trailer was rocking and rolling… until he found the alfalfa.
And they’re off! The whole thing took less than 20 minutes. It would have been shorter but I made them look at my Morgan Showhorse photo album. (Mama Tess, Gwen, Aladdin, Damien and Ava.)
You can’t see him, but he’s in there. I’m waving and telling him what a great time he will have and how proud I am of him.
It is really happening!
I final holler from Dalton…
And he starts his new adventure.
YES… bigger goal in the future…
Bigger goal in the future? Maybe? There is a hiker now making the media circuit – having been a through-hiker on the Appalachian Trail, the Pacific Crest Trail and several others, he is now trying to develop an entire USA loop trail. Have you seen those news reports? My first thought was they absolutely MUST provide for equestrians on that 10,000+ mile trail as it surely would attract every long-rider in the world. Forget doing trails on foot – so much better when your view is between the ears of a horse!