The path

Sometimes I get it into my head that this one thing is going to fix all my problems if I can just get it set up right. Right now that thing is working horses on a sloping path. It's supposed to be great for building up a hind end and for muscle and coordination in general. Papillon needs to build up muscle again, and her hind end is pretty deficient right now and walking on a slope would be great. Colonel needs to learn to balance and to not work on the forehand so much. Going up will force him to use his hind end and going down hills will motivate him to focus on what he is doing because there's nothing I can do to keep him from falling on his face. Star has a very strong shoulder, but she hasn't really developed or learned to engage her hind end and she has no topline. People think she's ewe necked because her underline is so much more developed than her topline.

The problem is: stoneybrook is flat. Very flat, I think a small glacier flattened it out a while ago. I should say though, most of stoney brook is flat. The valley ends and there is a pretty good hill at the end of the property. The problem is that right at the base of the hill the trails stop. So the whole thing is covered in brambles, blackberries, and generally thick underbrush plus trees. Currently absolutely impassable. I asked a friend of mine who also works there sometimes to clear a path. He was excited about it too; Lady is his big project and her hind end needs developing too if she is going to get back to jumping. He was always clearing brush anyway with that machete. I am a little scared of them. I can very easily envision chopping my own head off with one. Anyway, no path was built, so now its up to me.

People keep telling me that machetes are not really so bad and that it will be fine. So I've decided to do it. But I realized after scouting the place out that its not so obvious where to put the path, what grade it needs to be, how much the footing is going to need to be reenforced, where exactly the property line is, etc. etc. So I've been reading about trail design and the needs of horses in particular. I suspect I'm going to have to build some retaining walls, just simple ones, but I dont know yet. On my first mission, almost a year ago now, I didn't really get into the thick of it very far. I thought I had successfully delegated this task. Now that I finally have the opportunity to get back to the barn on a regular basis its gone and gotten intensely hot and I think this is a mission requireing long sleeved clothing, and I'm a little worried about ticks, so maybe a hood? Evidently I've signed myself up for a trip out there very early in the morning. But, its going to be a great project.