Buying a Baby

Buying a Baby

I have planned to buy a baby horse for quite some time, now.  I was only waiting for Cole to get older.  The last thing I want to do is replace Cole, but at the age of 17, there may come a time when I can't ride him as often as I like to.  Besides, I like training young horses.  It has been a long time since I have had a new horse to train, and I missed it.

I have been casually looking for many months.  I have simply loved my Morabs, Cole and Cruiser, but it seems like very few people are breeding them anymore.  The obvious choice if I couldn't get another Morab was to find a Morgan.  If I could just get one as wonderful as Dante...

Dante is a special Morgan.  He is a Lambert.  Because of him, I am a member of the Lambert Morgan Facebook Group, and that is where I found a potential horse in Pennsylvania--just 3 hours away.  His father is a Lambert Morgan, and his mother is a traditional-looking Morgan.  Technically, he is a half Lambert, but he looks totally like his father.  

I contacted his breeder, and we made arrangements for a visit.  Kevin and I are rather old fashioned, and we still use flip phones.  Since the advent of the smart phone, it has gotten very hard to find decent maps.  I am a terrific map reader--but I still have to have a map to do it.  We had Ohio maps galore.  Kevin searched and searched and found a Pennsylvania map.  It wasn't very detailed, but it was better than nothing.  At home, on my computer, I got a route from Google Maps.  I wrote it down verbatim and sketched the map out on paper.  We were all set.

The morning we were planning to leave, I looked outside and saw my yard looked very hazy--it was from wildfire smoke from Canada.  Not only could I see it, I could smell it, too.  It was just terrible.  It reminded me of the crummy November weather we had when I drove out to see Cruiser for the first time.  Also, the day I went to see Cole, was in the spring and it was extremely windy--just about constant gusts.  Could this be a good sign?  

When Kevin pulled into my driveway, he hopped out of the car and was frantically digging around in the back seat.  He couldn't find the Pennsylvania map.  He was sure that he brought it along, but it was nowhere to be found.  What were we going to do?  We had the instructions, but no map.  Well, what could we do?  I was sure we couldn't get a map in any store--we just headed out on our journey.

All went well until we were on the Warren, Ohio bypass--and it just ended--I mean ended.  Nowhere in my instructions told us what to do next.  I did have a very good street map of the area, and it showed that it was true--it just ended. That is not what Google Maps said.  (I have since double checked, and Google Maps still doesn't show it ending.)  We were supposed to pick up another route that I was sure that wouldn't happen until we were in Pennsylvania--we were still in Ohio.  

Since the map we had for Ohio showed all the roads, I plotted out a path to go along the Ohio border until we got to the route we were looking for on the other side of Warren.  As long as we stayed in Ohio, we wouldn't be lost.  The problem was that some of the streets didn't have street signs.  We did have to stop and talk to a fella for directions.  We couldn't have done it without him.  I held my breath as we traveled along the state line.  Kevin was driving--following my every instruction--and my some miracle, we made it.  We were back on our way!!!  Well, we did stop numerous times at countless stores to see if they sold maps.  No one sells maps anymore...

I could see we weren't going to be on time, so I called the horse's breeder, Lauren, and warned her.  It actually worked out better for her, so I was happy about that.  As we traveled along, the whole world was covered with smoke from the wildfires.  When we got very close, Kevin took a wrong turn, but I thought with a little help it would work out.  I called Lauren again, and she guided us.  She was heading in that direction, too, and she said she would meet us and bring us there herself.

Lauren is a lovely young woman who brought her little infant with her.  She carried her in some sort of sling, and the little girl was sleeping the whole time.  The horse was at her father's farm.  What a gorgeous farm!  I wish it was a sunny day instead of a smokey day so I could see it at it's best.  Enough of that, you are thinking, tell me about the horse.

Lauren went into the pasture to get him, and he left the other horses and came right over to us.  There was no doubt in my mind--this horse likes people.  I couldn't believe how small and immature he looked.  He really did still look like a baby.  I don't remember Mingo, who I had from birth, looking so immature at this age--not quite two.  He will be two in August.  (Ellen said I should go back and look at his pictures.)  His legs are long, his rump is high and he gives the overall impression of immaturity.  

I had Kevin walk him around for me, and that is when I saw a beautiful sight.  In spite of his youth, he walked along with Kevin as if he knew him his whole life.  He was so relaxed.  He didn't fidget, play with the lead rope, dawdle, rush, dance or anything.  He paid attention to Kevin and just walked along.  He was irritated about the bugs that were attacking him, but he still kept following Kevin around.  

Kevin held him while I looked closely at him.  He really seemed to like Kevin.  Kevin really seemed to like him.  Kevin gave him some treats, which he took gingerly from his hands.  He wasn't obnoxious about it--he wasn't obnoxious about anything!  He was as mannerly as Cole without all the bowing or the "silly walk."  

At one point, he lowered his head and gently leaned his forehead on my knees as I pet his neck.  I asked Lauren if she trained him to do that, so that I would buy him.  She denied it.  He certainly was being endearing.  

He really seemed a little smaller than I liked.  Both of his parents are 14.2 hands, and I expect he will be, too.  That is how tall Cole is, so I could certainly live with it.  I kinda wanted a horse-sized horse, but I could see that his temperament is golden--and that is why I bought him.  (Kevin said if I didn't, he would have bought him.  He fell in love.)

All of his behavior, in my opinion, showed that he really likes people and wanted to be with us.  It didn't matter that all the other horses were out in the pasture.  He was happy to be with people.  Guess what happened when we put him back in the pasture?  He stayed by us, in the mud, instead of going back right away to his friends on the grass.  

His name is Trifecta, and I am going to keep it that way.  Lauren explained that the day he was born, she delivered twins, herself.  If we count Cole, who is 75% Morgan, he will be the third Morgan in our herd, so we will have a trifecta of Morgans.

They gave us good directions to get home.  The first thing I had to do was call Ellen.  She was working that day, so she couldn't join us.  In trying to describe his personality, I realized who else I was describing--Fall, Kevin's cat that recently passed away.  I told Ellen he was like Fall.  Kevin wholeheartedly agreed with me.  I found a horse like Fall.  Fall was a cat who just wanted to be with people, was always gentle and loving--and was just a real doll.

I don't think he is going to be a fast horse, but he will be a good one.  I predict that he will be the horse anyone can ride.  I have Cole, so I don't need another fast horse, but you can never have too many good horses.

I know there will be bumps in the road, but we have plenty of time--we will work through those bumps.  I feel he will end up being a terrific horse that we will all love.  

He hasn't been delivered, yet.  That is when the adventures will begin...

By the way, when Kevin was cleaning out his car the next day, he found the missing map.  It was in the door of the car on the passenger's side.  We don't know how it got there, but as it was, it wasn't detailed enough to get us through out crisis.

Our New Baby!

 I have my own Lambert Morgan--cousin of Dante.  More to come, but here are some pictures until then.

Adventures with Cherie

 

Adventures with Cherie

Note that Cherie is different from Shari with Bella.  Shari was on vacation, so we took our "Replacement Cherie" with us on a trail ride.  She rides a small pinto named Warrior who looks a lot like a Thelwell pony.  He seems to be misnamed, because he's more like a pussy cat than a warrior.  Compared to the other Shari's Bella, going on a ride with him is just a slow amble through the park.  Dante likes to be with him.

We went on a longer ride than Cherie is used to which involved crossing the second river.  Warrior was awesome.  On the way home, Warrior picked up the speed, and he reached the river with Cole--quite ahead of Starry and Dante.  We decided to go ahead and cross.  Since Cherie isn't too familiar with this river crossing, she wanted to follow Cole.  Usually, we cross one at a time in case one horse falls--then they all won't go down.  (Been there--done that.)  Cole never likes horses splashing him, and since we no longer practice it, I didn't know how he would be with Warrior behind him.  I figured I would just keep him ahead far enough to avoid being splashed.

Well, for a pony, Warrior can really splash!  At one point, he stumbled a little, but he quickly regained his footing and continued to splash across.  He splashed the equivalent of at least 3 horses.  Cole felt a little nervous, but I just kept him moving.  Towards the end of the crossing, he was walking pretty fast, so I braced myself.  As soon as he hit the shore, he burst--and cantered up the bank.  I was ready for it, so it wasn't a big deal at all.  In fact, I laughed.

By now, Kevin and Ellen caught up and started to cross while we waited for them.  Ellen got across first, and she noticed that Warrior had lost one of his hoof boots.  Cherie had just bought a new pair, so I really wanted to find it.  Those things are rather expensive.  

We told Kevin as he finished crossing, and he said he saw something that looked like a hoof boot in the river.  I told Cherie that I would get it for her.  He took Starry back into the water and showed me where it was.  It was right where Warrior had stumbled.  I brought Cole over to it, and Kevin hurried Starry out.  He didn't want Starry close to us as I landed in the water.  The river was about a foot and a half deep in that spot.  I had done this before when Starry lost one of his fetlock boots in the river--it wasn't as deep that time, but Cole didn't seem to mind me dismounting in the water, so I figured he would be fine this time, too.

I was right.  I slid down into the water, grabbed the boot and led Cole to the other side of the river--which was closer to us.  At one point, the water was about 2 feet deep, and I got pretty wet.  I didn't mind since I was wearing old jeans and old boots.  

I led Cole up the river bank, mounted and headed back down the bank.  Cole took off trotting!  My reins weren't long enough and I had one hand holding the boot, so I couldn't stop him.  It was a long, steep bank, so I have to admit it was pretty scary.  By the time we got to the bottom, I had him walking and we made it back across the river without any trouble.  Ellen thinks he was startled by my wet legs--which makes total sense.

I gave the boot to Cherie, and she got off to put it back on Warrior.  Now, we had another problem.  Cherie doesn't mount from the ground.  We walked down the trail looking for an appropriate log to use as a mounting block, but she was so concerned about poison ivy--which our woods is filled with and she is extremely allergic to it.  Finally, she decided that she would just mount from the ground.  I suggested that I get off and hold her opposite stirrup so that the saddle doesn't slip.  I often do that for Ellen.

We set up the horses, but she was still having trouble.  A couple of hikers happened to come by and offered to help.  They both shoved Cherie up while I held the stirrup--and hurray!  She was in the saddle!

I think that is when she told me that it was one of her old boots, because the new ones were rubbing Warrior a little.  All that for an old boot?  I teased her and said I wouldn't have gotten it if I knew it was an old boot.   (It was just teasing-I would have retrieved it for her anyway.)

I mounted back up for the third time that day--glad that I worked so hard to keep my mounting ability when I was side-lined after breaking my wrist.  We all just walked down the trail and relaxed--for about 2 minutes--when Ellen noticed that Starry lost a shoe!  (Ellen has the best eyes--she notices everything.)  We looked around and found it right away--and it meant that I had to get off and get it--since no one else can mount from the ground.  I sighed--my fourth mount of the day.  I had a jacket, so I was able to put the shoe in my pocket.

A short while later, we crossed the river to go home, and Kevin got off to lead Starry the rest of the way.  My legs were much drier by then, so I didn't change into the dry clothes I had in the car, but I did change into some dry shoes.  

Everything went well.  Cherie had her boot, the farrier was able to come out the next day to put Starry's shoe back on and I got some delicious home made chocolate chip cookies from Cherie.

A Surprise on the Hill

A Surprise on the Hill

Ellen, Kevin and I were out for a ride.  Before crossing the river to go home, Ellen and I decided to pass up home and trot out to the street.  Kevin decided to just go home without us.  Cole was really, really fast.  He had an extra exceleration when he heard a noise.  I was able to keep him at a trot, but it was a very fast trot.  Dante was a little calmer.  Fifteen seconds later, we turned back to go home.  That is when I saw the pair of turkeys--a male and a female.  We believe they were courting, though the male wasn't fanned out.  They probably made the noise that startled Cole--or maybe he saw them.  We were glad that Starry wasn't with us.  He panicked the one time he saw a male turkey fanned out.

After we crossed the river, we watched the turkeys saunter up to it and eventually fly over to our side.  I think wild turkeys are so beautiful.

Ellen and I headed up the hill.  We were about a third of the way up, when I thought I heard Kevin's voice ahead.  It sounded like he was at the top of the hill.  I got a little worried, but we didn't hear him cry for help, though we couldn't make out what he was saying.  He stopped, and I relaxed.  

A couple minutes later, I heard him yelling a lot.  Once again, we didn't know what he was saying.  I wanted to gallop up the hill to find out, but I knew that depending on the situation, that might make things worse.  If Kevin had fallen and Starry was loose, galloping up might cause Starry to run.  We just kept walking up the hill as fast as we could.

Ellen was ahead of me, leading Dante.  I was still in the saddle.  Kevin started yelling again.  We were closer now, and we could hear him calling out a warning to us that there were 2 loose dogs on the trail!  Seconds later, 2 Cane Corsos came charging down the trail towards us.  Cane Corsos are not known for their friendliness--they weren't Labradoodles!  They looked like they were a hundred pounds each, and all I could see were their huge jaws.

Within an instant, Ellen transformed from her normally quiet demeanor to a raging animal.  She charged towards them with her hands in the air, waving her whip, yelling like she was possessed by the devil and dragging Dante with her.  No one was going to hurt her Dante.  I started to do the same thing.

Those dogs stopped, spun around and took off back up the hill--straight into the arms of a policeman. I think they went to him for protection from Ellen and her ferocious horse, Dante. When we reached the top of the hill, we saw Kevin on foot and the policeman was wrapping Starry's reins around their necks. The dogs didn't even have collars.  Kevin was holding Starry by the bridle.  Those snap-on reins came in handy!

We stayed back while the policeman led the dogs to his car that was parked at the end of the trail.  Once he got there, he couldn't manage to get the dogs in the car or tied up--he evidently needed some help.  Ellen handed Dante to me and went over to hold the dogs for him while he put leashes on them.  She brought Kevin's reins back.  The officer still couldn't get the dogs into the car, so he called for back up.

He told Ellen that someone on the street called about the loose dogs.  I'm glad we were able to get them turned around before they got further into the park, and without Kevin's reins, I don't know how the officer could have gotten them back to his car.  Hopefully, they were able to locate the owner, and now they are safe at home.

All the yelling that we heard was Kevin trying to scare the dogs away from Starry.  It is just as well that we couldn't understand what he was yelling about--I believe it was mostly 4-lettered words.

Throughout this whole experience--from the beginning to the end--all 3 horses were perfectly behaved.  I was so proud of them!

The Best 15 Seconds of the Whole Ride

The Best 15 Seconds of the Whole Ride

Many times for many years, Ellen and I will be coming back from a ride, and when we get to the river that we cross to go home, we decide to pass it up and go for a little while longer.  We will just trot out to the street.  It isn't a long distance at all, but it makes the ride a little longer.

Cole started to really get into it.  I think it is because when we get to the street, we just turn around and go back home.  I know Cruiser liked to do it, too.  I can tell because of their enthusiastic trot.

Over the years, Cole's trot has become more and more enthusiastic.  It didn't take Dante long to catch on to the excitement.  Cole usually is in the lead, and he will typically trot faster than he does on the whole ride.  Dante decided that that was a tremendous idea.  Though he can't match Cole's trotting speed, he does his best.  Many times, Ellen lets him canter.

There are times that I can't hold Cole--he just goes.  There have been leaps and squeals from Dante.  None of this puts us off, because we know they will always stop at the end--they just want to get there very fast.  We just sit back and enjoy it.

The more we do it, the more hyper they get about it.  I just love riding a fast, extended trot.  When they go this fast, I don't think it takes us much more than 15 seconds to get to the end, but they are the best 15 seconds of the whole ride.

For some reason, Kevin never wanted to join us.  We did it a lot last year, and if he was with us, he would just cross the river and go home.  Poor Starry was missing all the fun.

A couple weeks ago, I was riding with just Kevin.  He surprised me when he said he wanted to trot past home.  I guess it was just such a nice evening for riding that he didn't want to go home.  I told him I would take the lead, and Cole would probably go very fast.  Kevin loves going fast, so that is not a problem.  I just wanted him to be ready for it.

Cole took off, and we were at the end already turned around when Starry came around the bend--and Kevin was smiling.  Somebody really had a lot of fun.

The next time I rode with Kevin, he suggested that we do it again.  Now, he knows our secret. Sometimes, it really is the best 15 seconds of the whole ride.

Virtual Tevis Cup - 100 Miles in 100 Days

Virtual Tevis Cup - 100 Miles in 100 Days

Ellen and I signed up for the fourth consecutive year.  As long as our horses--and ourselves--stay sound, it is a very easy thing for us to accomplish.  So why do we do it?  Because it is fun.  We get to join the group online and follow their progress as well as post about our own.  It is nice to be part of something that involves people and horses of all walks of life throughout the world.  

We get to accomplish milestones as we post our progress that shows where we are if we were riding the actual Tevis Cup--which is 100 miles in 1 day.  It sure does give us a lot of appreciation for what the riders and horses experience in the actual Tevis.  

The way the event works is you start logging your daily miles on April 19th, and the last day is the day of the actual Tevis which is July 30th.  Last year, I really enjoyed watching the live streaming of the actual horses reaching their milestones.  Wow, those horses are amazing.

And of course, we get a t-shirt.  The proceeds of the event helps pay for the upkeep of the Tevis trail, so it is for a good cause. Anything that keeps our trails open and usable is a good thing.

It makes it especially fun that Ellen and I are doing it together.  I am always ahead of her in the miles because since she still works, she can't ride as often as I do, but she usually isn't that far behind.

If you are interested in participating in the event, you can sign up any time before the last 10 days of the ride.  Here is the website.

https://runsignup.com/Race/CA/Auburn/TevisCup

You are welcome to join the Daly Duo team--which is us.

Cole's New Job

Cole's New Job

The other day, Ellen and I were going out on a trail ride in the morning.  The barn goats were out.  Before coming to this barn, I had very little exposure to goats.  I now think they are awesome creatures.  There are 4 of them--Percy, Billy, Ernie and Spider.  I look forward to Saturday mornings when they turn the Goat Boys loose while they are cleaning the stalls.

Cole has always been fascinated by the goats.  He just can't take his eyes off them, and he tries to go to them all the time.  Of course, I don't let him, but that doesn't stop him from asking me each time he sees them when they are out.

Ellen and I walked out horses down the barn driveway to the street.  A little way down the street is the house that the barn owner lives in--and there were the 4 goats in her front yard!  We yelled back to the barn that the goats were in the yard.  They don't want them so close to the street for obvious reasons.

We started down the street, and Percy started walking down the house's driveway.  We yelled at him, but he kept getting closer and closer to the street.  Visions of disaster filled my head.  I knew what had to be done--I have been watching "1883" on TV.  It is filled with horses herding cattle.  We had to intercept Percy and turn him back towards home.

I pointed Cole to the spot where I thought Percy would be when our paths would cross, and we went at a very fast walk in that direction.  (I didn't want to run on the pavement--and I didn't want to startle Percy and cause him to bolt across the road into the yards on the other side.)  I was glad to see the other goats were happy grazing in the front yard and weren't trying to follow Percy.

By now, Percy was up to the center line on the street!

Cole's ears went forward and walked with much enthusiasm.  He finally got to do what he wanted to do all along.  He was allowed to herd a goat!  Not for one moment did he hesitate--he knew what his job was, and he was going to do it--at a very fast walk.

Once we intercepted Percy, Cole turned him without my guidance and followed him until he reached the driveway.

At that moment, the goats' owner came flying down the driveway, shouting at the goats.  I think I heard some four-lettered words.  She gathered up the goats.  Once they were on the correct side of the 4-wheeler, she started to push them down the driveway in the right direction.  Ernie looked like he was going to break free and make a run for it.  Cole was standing at the end of the driveway just waiting for him to try.  No goats were going to pass him.

Was it my imagination?  It seemed like Cole stepped a little lighter and carried his head a little higher the rest of the ride.  He seemed rather proud of himself.  He is now an official goat wrangler.  Goat Boys, beware.  No wandering towards the street on Cole's watch!

A Ride on the Hill

 A Ride on the Hill

Ellen and I met at the barn.  The day before, it rained all day--there was no way we were crossing the river.  I asked her what she wanted to do.  She was uneasy about going in the park.  She didn't know if the planes were taking off or landing.  Dante is fine if the planes are taking off, but he will sometimes spook when they are landing--though he hasn't had a really big spook in a few years.  She was also concerned that it was a garbage day and the trucks go down the street in the morning.

I was able to talk her into riding on the hill.  I was curious to see how high the river was and it was a great day to be out in the park considering it is still February.  

We were halfway down the hill, when the thought crossed my mind that Ellen was worried about the wrong things.  Dante is fine with the planes and a garbage truck is just a truck--and we get plenty of warning as it comes down the street.  The real thing to worry about was falling trees.  A lot of trees fall--not on stormy days--but the day after the storm.  All the rain weakens them.

I decided not to remind Ellen--she has enough things to worry about. 

I'm not exaggerating--not 30 seconds after this thought crossed my mind, we heard a loud crack and then the sound of a tree breaking and falling to the ground!  We were both looking in the direction of the noise but we didn't see anything.  When I first heard the crack, I took contact with the reins.  I am glad to say that Cole didn't even flinch. 

Dante did, but Ellen isn't sure if he was startled by the noise or if he detected her fear and reacted from her.  He calmed down very quickly, and we continued on our ride.  I mentioned to Ellen what I had just been thinking, and she said, "Now I have something else to worry about."  I did tell her that I doubted that a second tree would fall on the same ride.  I suppose it could have happened, but it just wasn't likely.  I was right.

We rode up and down the hill three times.  The river was very high, but with all the rain we had, I thought it would actually be higher.  We did see a large group of turkeys, and I heard my first Kildeer of the year flying overhead.  Dante spooked at a squirrel, too.  It was another great trail ride.

Group Ride

Group Ride

On a lovely February day, I was planning to go for a ride with Kevin and Shari when Cheri and Sharon showed up.  Kevin invited them the day before, but we didn't really think they would be there.  It was a little chilly for a ride so early in the morning.

Poor Ellen didn't know they were going to join us.  When she got out of her car, she looked a little pale, but she was still going to go on the ride.  She figured that at worst, she could just stay way in the back with Kevin on Starry.

We thought about it and realized that Cole, Dante and Bella had never gone for a ride in such a big group before.  We had ridden in a group of 5 but never in 6.  Would one additional horse make a difference?  We were about to find out.  

Cheri's horse, Warrior, is a short, wide Paint that looks like he came right out of a Thelwell book.  We've been out on a few rides with them in the past, and they have gone very well.

Sharon's horse, Karma, is a blue dun Quarter Horse.  In her old life, she was a horse that was rented out on trail rides.  We knew she had plenty of group experience--but she was never with our group.

Bella is happiest in the lead, so that is where she was.  Shari decided to take charge of the ride, and Bella liked that role, too.  Cole followed Bella and the slow horses were in the back.

We rode down the hill and crossed the river with no problem.  Once across, Shari wanted to try trotting right away.  I really didn't think the others would follow, so I trotted after Shari.  Much to my surprise, Karma and Warrior were trotting right behind me.  Cole didn't feel comfortable with this, and he told me my tossing his head and trying to accelerate.  I kept him under control, but I have to confess, I was relieved when Shari stopped so we could let Ellen and Kevin catch up.   

We did this a few times and all went well.  Shari suggested trying to go a little faster.  I knew that would help Cole.  The first time we tried it, I heard Sharon's voice behind me, and it didn't sound very good, so I immediately stopped.  She said that Karma tried to buck.  Cheri said that she saw what happened--and in her opinion, Karma did buck.  We let everyone decompress a little as we let Kevin and Ellen get closer.  They were doing little stretches of trotting, and it seemed like they were doing well.  

We tried another section of trotting, and this time, Cole jumped in the air and tried to canter.  I got him to stop after just one stride, and looked back.  Karma was behind me, and Sharon said that she bucked 4 times.  Well, that is when I thought we pushed it too far.  I turned Cole around and went back with Ellen and Kevin.  We just moseyed along and left the others to go on their ride.

I was surprised to see them start trotting right away, but I could see they were doing fine.  Soon, they were out of sight. 

At first, all we did was walk.  Ellen was very nervous.  This was all just a little too much for her.  She said that if it had been summer and we were riding in the park 5 days a week, it wouldn't have been much of a problem.  Here it was February!  We were lucky to have her at all, let alone with 5 other horses.  After a bit, Kevin was able to talk her into trying some trotting, and it went well.  We found everyone else waiting for us at the second river crossing.  It turns out that they trotted the whole way and it went great!  I am thinking that it was Cole being ahead of Karma that made her so reactive.  Once he was gone, all went well.

We rode back with them.  They did more trotting than we did, but they kept waiting for us.  Warrior, was a champ with everything that Cherie asked him, but he did not like standing around, waiting.  Cheri found something she needs to work on, and she plans to do it when she is out riding with just Sharon.

Starry was perfect the whole ride.  What a wonderful horse he is.  Dante was a bit keyed up, but Ellen thinks it might be because she was nervous.  He did spook once--and took off at a trot. That is very unusual for him.  He seldom spooks at all.

Everybody arrived home safely and had smiles on their faces.  It was a successful though sometimes challenging ride!

February--What a Month

February--What a Month

The weather has been terrific for February.  We have been able to get out on the trail and across the river quite a bit.  So many times, we are completely snowed in, iced in or can only ride the hill in February.  This year is much more like March.  

But here is the big news--Ellen has been going on the trail rides with us!  This is unprecedented.  Only once, years ago, did she take Dante across the river in February.  Since then, it has all been just too intimidating for her.

The first time she crossed the river, it had been a few weeks since her last crossing.  She was nervous, but Dante wanted to cross and he didn't give her much time to lose her nerve.  It was about a week before we were able to cross again.  This time, Dante was a little slow about it and Ellen began to get anxious.  Once Dante sensed that, he decided crossing wasn't in their best interest.  When he gets this way, we don't know if he is using Ellen as an excuse to not cross, if he is worried about crossing because she is or if he is trying to protect her.  Nevertheless, he decided he wasn't crossing.  The more resistant he became, the more worried Ellen became and then he became more resistant.

I was already on the other side of the river, and I asked Ellen if I came back, could she ride Cole across.  She said she could, so I rode back and we switched horses.  Dante went right across for me without hesitation.  I kept him for the rest of the ride, and we all had fun.

Since then, Ellen has been crossing the river without any difficulties.  I think she has already ridden 6 or 7 times on the other side--and there were quite a few rides on the hill when the river was too high to cross.  We have ridden a bit in the indoor arena on the really cold days, and there have been a few rides in the outdoor arena, too.  It is so nice to have all that variety.

In previous winters, Ellen would just ride in the indoor arena while Kevin, Shari and I would go in the park.  I'm so happy to have her with us.  Hopefully, the weather will continue to be good enough so she can get in the park on a regular basis--and never quit this year.  One of the hardest things she has to overcome each spring is getting out on that first spring ride.  It would be nice if that doesn't happen this year because she never quit riding on the trail.  It all depends on the weather...

In the meantime, we will ride in the park as much as we can.