He took the lead over Willow right from the trailer with this ground-eating walk that quickly left Willow moseying along way behind. He went over the first bridge and thought maybe the two cars coming towards him were going to run him over, then seemed astonished that they went under him instead.
He had no problems with the rock formations on either side of him. No problems with the squirrels running around in the leaves next to the trail. I think I spooked a few times, but he never did. The first time we cantered I let him blow a bit and go as fast as he wanted until he slowed into a nice comfortable canter. When we stopped, we had to wait quite awhile for Willow to catch up. Slowpoke.
Then came the true test. The first tunnel is 377' long, but luckily the sun was still low enough in the sky that none of the tunnels were pitch black in the middle. I thought we'd have to wait for Willow to catch up and lead us in, but Quest surprised me by just walking right in without any hesitation. He either doesn't know how to hesitate or he just doesn't see the point. We walked right into the first tunnel and he was a little nervous when he heard his own footsteps echoing back to him, but never tried to take off, stop, or misbehave in any way. He walked into the next two tunnels the same way. On the way home, one of the tunnels was pitch black in the middle and I couldn't even see his ears right in front of me. He didn't care, he was headed back to the trailer and hay - no way was he slowing down!
I rode the whole way on a loose rein. When we came to the creek crossing he plowed right in and immediately started pawing at the water while Willow took a drink. It took some convincing to get him out of the creek because he was having so much fun.
Most of the North Bend Trail is flat, but the last little bit on the way to the lodge is a ridge trail through the woods that is fairly steep in places. I noticed his saddle had slid back when going up one steep incline and he started swishing his tail and acting annoyed. I was hoping to make it to a flat spot before dismounting and fixing the saddle, but he had given me fair warning and I wasn't acting fast enough for him... he swung his head around and bit me in the leg! I hopped off, fixed the saddle, then just walked him the rest of the way to the lodge since it was only a couple hundred yards away. After lunch, he was fine and there was no more swishing or biting. I just love a horse that gives fair warning before misbehaving! And I really don't blame him for being upset with me since the saddle had slipped so far back.
On the way back we actually found something that scares the beast. A kid on a bicycle was going to EAT Quest, he was just sure of it. But all he did was throw his head up, stiffen up, and quiver a little. I asked the kid to stop and then Quest was able to walk quietly past the horse-eating bicycle. We then came to the walking parents and Quest wanted to stop and chat, maybe see if they had any treats or knew where his itchy places were located.
I guess since Glenn saw how well Quest behaved today my "he's a wild untrainable beast, so it's not safe for you to ride him yet" mantra is down the drain. I'm going to have to let Glenn ride him eventually, whether I like it or not.
