The Thaw

The Thaw

It is so funny how something like just riding up and down a hill to a too-deep-to-cross river can be so satisfying in early spring and so unsatisfying later in the year.  The hill is thawed enough to ride on the whole thing.  The bottom is still icy/snowy, so we walked on that.  Once that thaws, we like to use that section to trot back and forth on.  We were just so happy to be out on the trail, that the fact we couldn’t cross the river didn’t bother us in the least.  We were just so happy to be out.

There is a flat section in the middle that is trottable, too, and Cole and Starry got to trot on that.

They were so typical last night.  We decided to have Starry go first and Cole follow.  Cole will stay behind a trotting horse, even if he feels like flying past.  I have used that many times to help Cole control his enthusiasm.  We made it about 5 steps, and then Starry didn’t want to go first.  He slowed down to a walk, and Kevin couldn’t get him to go.  I told Cole to pass, and as expected, he flew down the trail.  On another trip down, we put Cole in the front from the start, figuring Starry would not want to lead, again.  I warned Kevin that Cole would be fast, and of course, he was.  It only took a few seconds, and Starry was cantering somewhat out of control.  I was trotting somewhat out of control, too, but when I reached the part of the trail where the slope starts again, I said, “Whoa,” and Cole came to an immediate stop.  We looked back, and Kevin had Starry trotting, again.

And Kevin wondered why I didn’t want to trot up the hill going towards home…