Finally! My first real, trail ride on Lightning! Everything went very smoothly. I used a Parelli hackamore with a bridle on top, just for practice carrying the bit. Seven of us saddled up for the ride. The first few minutes were a little scary for me as we headed off through a field! I could feel some powerful forward movement welling up beneath me! I remained calm and stuck very close behind my friend's horse keeping Lightning's head down, but trying not to pull on the reins too much. I am sure he would have loved to gallop across that field! A couple of minutes later, we all stopped to admire the view. Lightning was happy to stop, not for the view, but for a few bites of long, green grass. Then we were off again toward the woods for a lovely, slow, two hour ride on the trail. I let Lightning have his head and pick his footing on his own, keeping my eyes on the helmet in front of me. I let him trot to catch up to the horse ahead of us whenever he felt the urge. My first trot on him! We encountered hikers, bikers, strollers, walkers and dogs on the trail. Everyone was very polite and stopped for us to pass. We stopped and dismounted once on the trail for a 5 minute break, which really helped the arthritic knees, etc. Haha. Another perfect day! A big THANK YOU to all of my friends who helped to set me up for success, including the friends who were there is spirit only!