Long Weekend

I had a 3-day weekend. The vet was scheduled to come out Friday afternoon to give round one of spring shots. My sister had to work, but since she works afternoons, she spent the morning with me.

We started out with a trail ride on Cruiser and Ranger. We tried to trot, once, and they were very fast. We decided to walk the rest of the way. They behaved beautifully at a walk and we had a nice time. I think we were out about an hour.

Then, it was Cole’s turn. My sister drove down to the trail on the other side of the river and waited for us. We had no trouble going down the hill and crossing the river. In fact, he did very well, so I thought it would be a good time to try and trot. I had the same problem with him as we had with Cruiser and Ranger. I tried 4 times for very short distances. Twice, he broke into a canter, once he went into a fast trot and didn’t want to stop and once he went into a fast trot and I got him to stop readily after about 10 steps. There is no doubt he was excited to move out on the trail. Hopefully he will be better next time.

My sister left to go to work, and I rode him across the river and up the hill by myself. Once again, he was anxious to get home, and kept trying to trot—though he was better than the last time I crossed the river with him. When I got back to the barn, we rode about 10 minutes in the indoor arena.

Saturday morning was sunny but windy. We took Cruiser and Ranger out for an identical ride with more trotting. They did much better. I had Cole saddled and ready to go when it started to pour. Alas, I was stuck in the indoor arena. We had a good ride, but it was notable that he did his trail trot instead of his big trot. It only took one day on trail to convert him! The arena started to get crowded, so I decided to ride him down the hill. The rain was light when we left. Of course, that changed once I got to the bottom. I turned to come back. Overall, he was perfect. Not once did I have to correct him.

Sunday—it was the inevitable high river. My sister and I took Ranger and Cruiser up and down the hill 3 times—trotting on the bottom where it is flat. They were great in spite of the high wind.

I started Cole in the arena, where he was strangely calm, even though the windows and doors were making all kinds of noises from the wind. After 50 minutes, I decided to give him a break and just lead him down the hill. That way, if a tree fell, at least I wouldn’t fall, too. As it was, only a small branch fell, and Cole didn’t even notice. When we were almost back to the barn, he did a little bit of trotting. I made him stop and stand for a minute before continuing. Once we got back, I led him up and down the driveway for 10 minutes.

I’m hoping that next weekend will have better weather so I can really get him out on the trail. I am getting a little frustrated. At least Cruiser is improving. He is doing quite well when I ride him by myself in the evenings. He just needs to relax when trotting with other horses.

(Oh, Cole was the best of all our horses for his exam and shots.  He stood like a perfect gentleman.)