The Rainy Season

Perhaps I notice it more because I am outside every single day, but it seems that we are falling into a pattern of dry summers and wet winters. I understand that our wettest month is February. Last summer we had sufficient rain but for most of the last fifteen years our summer rainfall has been a disappointment.

A trail horse really gets a chance to show his metal in a rain drenched woods trail. Yesterday Rachel went on her first trail ride. We rode for about two hours. The rain broke for the ride but the woods was inundated. Movement on saturated ground requires a tremendous amount of energy on the part of the horse. I have no doubt that it takes much more exertion than riding in sand.

The heavy winds bring down small limbs that the horses push themselves through. The branches tangle in their feet but because of the level of training our horses have they are less distracted by these obstacles than they are by the horse flies of summer. When the wind blows hard enough the deer and turkeys cannot hear us coming and they are much more likely to explode from the cover within a few yards of us in foul weather.

The commotion causes our horses to jump a few feet but they quickly come down to a complete stop. That is the result of despooking work with a series of monsters in the round pen.

The bottom line is that our horses are among the few in the region that can safely take on thee conditions, especially for night rides. Their calm Spanish temperaments, their training, and their experience in the woods all come together to make Corollas perfect trail horses.

Even in the Rainy Season.

(Porter and Samson, two experienced Corollas born in the wild are shown here as we prpare to hit the woods.)