Snowy Ride

Kevin and I got to go on a New Year’s ride! It was cold, and there was plenty of snow cushion—allowing us to trot and keep warm. Cole Train was a handful—as he always is out on the trail in the cold weather. There’s a lot of horse in that tiny 14.2 package. We did a fair amount of trotting on the way out and a little on the way home. He wanted to trot much more and was bouncing all about. I decided to get off and lead where I have more control. On the ground, I can do “head downs” and “silly walk” to keep him focused on me. That didn’t work when we scared a flock of geese by the river’s edge—just a few feet from us. I was glad I was leading. After that, he settled pretty well. The only problem was that Starry was walking so slowly and Cole was going so fast. We kept stopping to wait for them. It gave me a chance to catch my breath, though. Of course, when we stopped, Cole automatically parked out like a proper Morgan.

The weather is turning sour, so I don’t know if I’ll be crossing the river any time in the foreseeable future. This could be it until spring, unless we get one of those terrific January thaws.

Ellen is healing rapidly. She is now able to clean stalls and walk with me when I am riding in the arena. Depending on the horse, she can even keep up at times. Dante doesn’t want to leave her side and will match her speed. Cruiser tries, but he can’t walk that slow and keeps coming back to her and tries to walk slow. Ranger, the herd leader, goes back to her and then speeds off—hoping she will follow. He glances back, and if she isn’t there, he goes back to get her—and then tries to lead her away. I haven’t tried it with Cole—because we have been going on the trail.

Ellen did go out to the barn all by herself, today. It was her first time since the accident. She cleaned the stalls, turned Ranger out to play and did some leading with Dante.