We Went Down to the River
Trifecta and I have been doing a little arena work and a little trail work most of the days that I ride him. Usually, I ride him in the arena while Ellen is cleaning Dante's stall. When she finishes, I ride him down the hill to the river with her walking alongside. In the beginning, I would lead down the hill and ride up. After doing that for a while, I started to mount about halfway down. Lately, I have mounted at the beginning of the trail. He just keeps getting better and better. He just loves his little trail rides.
On my way to the barn, I saw that our section of the park was closed--just the road; not the bridle trail. The weather was very warm, too. It was the perfect day to ride across the river for the first time.
Ellen and I rode Dante and Cole, first. When we got back, I saddled up Trifecta and worked in the arena for a bit. He did very well, but he seemed a little lazy. I'm sure it was due to the heat--perfect. We headed for the trail.
I mounted at the beginning of the trail and headed down the hill with Ellen by my side. Tri was very excited and Ellen could barely keep up with us. I practiced multiple "whoas" with mixed results. Sometimes he stopped well, and sometimes his brakes took a little time to engage. He was definitely excited.
All I planned to do was to cross the river, ride a couple minutes on the other side, turn around and go home.
When we got to the bottom of the hill, he marched right down the bank and stopped at the river's edge. He has crossed multiple times with me on foot. Sometimes Ellen would go with us and walk on the other side. More often, Kevin would meet us on the other side and we would walk with him. He loves, loves, loves Kevin. Sometimes, he would only have me to walk with, but he was never walking alone. He always had one of his people.
This time, he was crossing by himself for the first time. The water was too cold for Ellen to venture across.
You never know how a horse will act the first time you try something new. My plan was to let him stand there for a while and let him look at the water. When he seemed very relaxed, I would ask him to step in it. If he refused, we would wait for another day. If he did go into the water but rushed, I would do a series of walk-whoa transitions. The river can be slippery and the slate on the bottom has uneven spots. Rushing could turn into falling--my biggest worry.
As it was, he stood for 5 seconds and decided to cross on his own. He walked carefully and an appropriate speed. I was feeling so happy! When we made it to the bottom of the river bank, I pointed him up the bank. It is fairly steep and about 10 feet high. I thought he might try to rush up it--as he did more than once when I led him up it. Instead, he stopped, lifted his head way up in the air and looked around. I thought he saw something that worried him--but I didn't see anything. He just stood there. I gently squeezed my legs, and he carefully turned right around and walked back across the river. I was flabberghasted. Of all the scenarios I had in my mind, this was the last thing I expected. At one point, he stopped and tried to eat the leaves that were floating in the water. Other than that, he walked slowly and carefully as if he crossed the river every day of his life.
We realized what he was looking for--Kevin! He wanted his peeps. If his peeps weren't there, he was going back to his peeps on the other side! We then rode on back home. (You have no idea how much Trifecta adores people...)
I suppose I could have put up a fight and forced him to go up the bank, but my goal was just to cross the river safely. We can save the rest for another day. Trifecta is such a happy and willing horse--and I want to keep him that way. Next time, he might go right up. If that doesn't work, I can use clicker training to ask for a step, click and repeat. I could also follow another horse up--or just have Kevin where he was supposed to be.
I am so happy that he handled the river like a champ. On our trails, not only do we have to cross the river to get into the main part of the park, but there are a number of other places to cross the river, too. It is such an important skill for our horse--and there is nothing more frustrating than trying to cross a river on an unwilling horse. I don't foresee Trifecta to ever be unwilling to cross a river after what this. Getting him out of the river on the other side--that is a different story.