A Most Wonderful Ride

A Most Wonderful Ride

I rode Trifecta out with Kevin and Starry--something we have only done a couple times before.  Ellen planned to join us on foot, but we decided the river would be way too cold for her to cross.  She said she would drive down to the park and meet us on the other side of the river.  Just in case there might be a problem, she would wear her old shoes so she could cross and help us out.

There was one thing that Kevin and I were a little worried about.  With the last rain, a large log was washed up on the shore right where we cross.  When I rode Trifecta down the hill the day before, he saw it and got very worried about it.  I didn't take him down the river bank to see it, since I didn't plan to cross, but I allowed him to stare at it for a couple of minutes.  He doesn't get worried about many things, so I took his concerns seriously.  Kevin was a bit worried how Starry would do, too.  His vision doesn't seem as good as it used to be, and sometimes he thinks the most normal things are a threat.  That is why I was really glad Ellen would be on the other side of the river.

Leading down the street, mounting and riding down the hill went so awesome that I thought someone switched my horse with a much older, more experienced one.  Trifecta led the way down, which always makes Starry a happy horse, because he just doesn't like to be a leader. 

When I made the turn to go down the river bank, Trifecta immediately saw the log and his head went way up in the air.  Before he could act out, Ellen started calling him on the other side of the river.  He was so happy that she was there that he hurried down the river bank to the edge of the water--then he noticed the log again.  His head went up, and his eyes got big.  I told him to go walk up to it and take a look.  He was torn between curiosity and caution, but he got close enough that if he really stretched his neck he could touch it.  I told him to try, so he did.  When he touched it and realized it was just a piece of wood, he immediately, and I mean immediately, decided it wasn't worth one more moment of his time.  Instead, he turned and looked across the river.  By now, Starry was also by the river and was unconcerned by the log.  Trifecta focused on Ellen and decided crossing would be the most fun thing to do.

He did get a click for stepping into the water.  He then crossed like a gentleman, walked up the river bank and turned to the right.  Now, this is really big because on the last few rides, he has been fighting me about wanting to go to the left--refusing to follow Ellen or the other horses.  I clicked him for it and gave him his treat.  When I restarted him, he tried to spin to the left.  

I have been experimenting up at the barn with how to thwart this behavior.  Even up there, he had been getting stubborn, trying to explore areas where I didn't want him--and then things would spiral out of control.  All the big trainers suggested keeping him moving to control his feet to deter him from wanting to go the places I didn't want him to go.  That did work when he would enter the indoor arena when I wanted to ride past the door, but it didn't seem to help anywhere else.  On the trail, our disagreements involved him wanting to go on little trails that lead to the river or out to the street.  His worst spot--and the spot where the whole habit began was at Willow Bend.  I went through a couple weeks of extreme frustration.  

With a lot of thought and observations, I decided he either enjoyed the conflict or felt that it was what I wanted.  I decided to try something new--I would stop.  It seems counter intuitive to stop him--because stopping can also be misinterpreted as a reward--but keeping him moving just kept things getting worse and worse.  I just had to make sure I stopped him when we were facing the direction that I wanted to go.

The first time I tried this at the barn, he was trying to go down the driveway that goes behind the barn instead of staying on the track.  I forced him into a turn and stopped him so he was facing the track.  We stood for about a minute, I asked him to walk and he did--right back on the track.  This didn't solve all my problems; we still had a lot of work to do, but now at least I had something that had a chance of working.  We practiced it a lot up at the barn.

So when we went up the river bank, stopped for a click/treat and he tried to go to the left--I circled him around to face the right, stopped him for a few moments and asked him to walk where I wanted him to--and he did!!!  The plan worked even out on the trail.  

We headed out on our ride.  Trifecta was leading with Ellen walking alongside us.  He was really behaving well.  When we got to those little trails that were giving us problems, I could feel him bending to go down them.  I just bent him the other way--a thing I was working on with him in the arena for the last few weeks for just this reason, (shoulder-in) and it worked.

The next big test was Willow Bend.  There I had to turn him to the right and go down a short slope at the same time.  Ellen walked with us on the left side to discourage him from wanting to go straight instead of turning.  I felt him bend--and down we went!  This is the first time I have been able to get him down the slope without even a little resistance--and usually a lot of resistance.  He got a click for that, too.

I told Ellen that I thought I would trot a little.  Since Kevin was planning to just walk, she said she would fade off and walk with Kevin.  Trifecta marched on down the trail, but he didn't seem too keen on trotting.  I had him walk a ways so we could get around a bend and no longer see Ellen and Starry.  I then asked him to trot, which he reluctantly did.  I kept him going until I could feel him moving in a more forward manner and clicked him.  When I asked him to trot again, he went more willingly and much faster.  After a while, we stopped and just walked.  

The park had been working on the pedestrian bridge earlier, but it seemed like they were done so I was going to ride until we reached the next river crossing--our usual turning spot.  We were nearly there when I started hearing pounding and electric saws.  That really disturbed the little guy, so we just stood to allow him to listen for a few minutes.  As I started to turn him to go back towards home, he tried to zoom forward.  I made him stop and stand and then tried again.  This time, he was a little better, but still wanted to rush.  I don't know if it was because of the construction noise or because he wanted to get back to his buddies--who were now approaching.  We managed to work through everything, catch up with them and then headed on home.

He was walking much faster, so we practiced stopping and waiting for Starry to catch up a lot.  It is a good lesson to learn; patience.  At the river crossing, we left Ellen, who I am certain was happy that she didn't have to cross the ice cold water.

I decided to try letting Starry go first up the hill.  Immediately, Trifecta wanted to walk up to him and start playing.  This became the biggest challenge of the ride.  I just wouldn't let Tri get close enough to Starry to harass him.  After a few minutes, Trifecta settle down and followed behind Starry at a safe distance.  About halfway up the hill, we practiced stopping and waiting for Starry to get further ahead--the reverse of stopping and waiting for him to catch up.  It is funny how the exact same exercise is emotionally completely different depending on where you do it.  We were about 2 thirds up the hill when Kevin was able to stop Starry and Trifecta peacefully passed him--the final test--and he passed.

Overall, I was very pleased with the ride.  Of course, it wasn't perfect, but I saw improvements and we both had fun.  I can't wait to do it again.