This Saturday Coda and I are going on our first off-site adventure. The two months I've had him, he and I have been out on the trails quite a number of times. Heck just tonight I was out with Carol and Kirsten again, what fun! There really is nothing and I mean nothing compared to cantering your horse through these gorgeous woods at this time of year. Although the shorter days are a problem. And today was nearly 90 degrees! Crazy. Anyway, back to the upcoming adventure with the Big Man. Carol, and a few other ladies at the barn, regularly go on hunter pace rides. They each have their own two-horse trailer and pair up for a full day ride. For more info on what a hunter pace is, see below. Now Coda and I have done a small amount of jumping. All in all, very low-level and sometimes unexpected! For example last Saturday. I had brought my mom out to meet him and was having a lesson in the ring. We were supposed to trot over a series of elevated poles but he decided he'd rather jump them. And jump them again, and again! Even after quite a bit of cantering he still wanted to jump! At first I was a bit freaked out but then I realized (after about that third time) that I kept my seat and didn't feel like I was about to fall off so I relaxed a bit. Still, to rather jump than trot? I gues those supplements are working! Silly horse, but I love the breath out of him. And again, back to the pace, Carol has a trailer and she and I are heading out bright and early Saturday. I anticipate it will be a good experience for us. He is so mellow I don't expect anything crazy but will try to be prepared just in case. Hopefully we won't come to any water crossing (silly hope) because he *hates* water. It's something we have to work on and train him not to be afraid of. Considering he just turned five in June, I really don't have a problem with the fact he has some issues. He's still a baby! In any case we are going to register as Hill Topper or or Trail Blazer because neither of us plan on doing any jumping on this particuar pace. I expect in the future I will attempt some, but for now I just want to take him out and try something new but nothing too crazy.