14th ride- hitting the trails!

I can officially stop counting the training posts now; Kai has graduated.
On a rainy, drizzly, grey and cloudy day, I had the best first trail ride. Ever.
I hauled over to where Shayla keeps her horses, and we saddled up and hit the trail. But first, a quick reminder in the round pen there:

One thing I noticed about him lately is that circling right, he starts out correct and then crossfires on the hind lead. What I saw today, is that he does that when he gets ramped up and chargey- as soon as I stepped to his head and then sent him on again- without breaking to a trot- it got his attention and he corrected himself. Also, the two lessons Shayla gave him giving to the leg have really paid off- a soft leading rein and a light leg pressure and he was turning nicely on haunches and forehand.
We headed out on the trail, and from the get go , I felt really comfortable on Kai. We followed Shayla on Allie, who know the trails very well, so that I could just concentrate on what was going on with my horse.

There were wide trails and narrow trails, dogs underfoot, slippery spots and muddy spots, branches rubbing on us and tight turns around trees; narrow sidehill trails crumbling away, and steep areas. The first place Kai got worried was a soft waterhole, muddy around the edges. We tried several times to encourage him to cross but he worried when he sank past his fetlocks, and I didn't want to make a big issue so I led him across.
He did follow a little close to Allie, his security blanket- I will correct that on another ride.

He was getting a little tired at one point and started fussing, so we gave the horses a breather and then went on. The only other place he was concerned about was a downhill slope, perhaps the saddle pressure moving forward or just unsure of balancing a rider on a wet downhill, so I got off and led him there too, and got back on at the bottom. The rest of the ride was just wonderful, even though the rain picked up.

At no time was I worried or tense. It was really nice to have Allie there, it's good for colts to go with a confidant horse on their first outing.

I think we rode for about an hour- Shayla didn't have chaps on so I think she got pretty wet and cold.

Didn't stop her from smiling though! And apparently, Allie thought there was something to smile about too.....

The last part of the ride was along the paved backroad , and several vehicles went by, 2 of them stopping to chat- again, no worries for Kai. He did get slightly concerned- as in 2 trot steps- when a car hit a puddle and made that noisy splash sound.
I can't say enough about how much I like this colt- he has really turned around since May, and I just love him!
On the drive home, I had one tired Tess dog, she is so good to ride trails with- stays right behind the horse the whole way unless invited to move out. A good dog to take out with a good horse!
She was pretty wet and tired though!