Basic trail ride

Maria rode with me again, this time she was on Maddie the whole time.  She did not push things much and we basically just got a decent trail ride in.  We went an honest 6 miles, mostly at the walk and trot, with a few canters.  Maria led a bit of the way, but Jordan & I were out front for most of the ride.  It was windy and we dealt with more traffic, motorcycles, bicycles, and pedestrians (with dogs).  All good experience for Maddie.

I am anxious to start pushing the issue with her.  She needs to be pushed out front and encouraged to listen to the rider, and not Jordan.  I will be taking her out to multiple riding arenas this week--we'll see what happens!

We introduced her to the herd at her new barn after the ride and she did well.  We started with just Maddie & Jordan in the mud lot together, and gradually added the other two, higher-ranking horses.  The top horse (who is kind of pushy and obnoxious, with horses and people) chased her around a lot but she mostly ran away from him.  We put her back in her stall and went home.  After 30 minutes we got a call that the alpha had kicked in her stall door trying to get at her.  Aaaargh!  I ran out and found the door latch and door jamb in splinters, and the door hinges bent.  I glued and hammered things back together and closed her into her stall for the night.