Something Different for a Change

Something Different for a Change

Ellen and I were going out for an early morning ride.  It would be a short one due to time constrictions.  As we were leading the horses down the driveway, a thought popped in my head.  We should switch.  I could ride Dante, and she could ride Cole.

We haven't switched horses in a really long time.  When she first started riding Dante, there were times when she would want me to ride him when we were doing something new.  Dante has turned into a “Seen everything; done everything,” kind of horse.  I don’t even remember the last time I rode him on the trail.

Not to keep you in suspense--it was a completely uneventful ride.  That certainly wasn’t a surprise to either one of us.  It was simply a chance for us to enjoy the greener grass on the other side of the fence.  I was able to have a relaxing, lovely ride, and she got to ride a faster, more exciting ride.

Ellen would trot on ahead of me and wait for me to catch up with them--just like I always do with her.  I would just relax on Dante’s slow, but very smooth trot.  We looked at the scenery and enjoyed the weather.

When we got to the section of the trail that we like to canter, they took off at a swift trot.  We went a little faster.  By the time we got around the first corner, they were long out of sight.  I asked Dante to canter.  I have only cantered him a few times, so I really didn’t know what to expect.  He gave me a fairly fast, but quiet canter.  It was lovely.  I wasn't’ able to get him to keep it up very far, and I couldn’t get him to pick it back up, so I just enjoyed a moderate trot from there.

I caught up with Ellen at the next river crossing.  I think she had been waiting for me for a while.  She said she did a mix of fast trotting and cantering, and she thought it was so much fun.  She kept telling him to go faster and faster.  Cole was very hot from his exertion as it was a warm morning and they have thick winter coats.  We walked most of the way home.  Cole tried doing silly walk and side passing to extort treats from Ellen with little success.  He tried giving me “the look” to extort treats from me, too.  Now I know why it is so hard for Ellen and Kevin to resist when he does that.  I had to stop looking at him.

I got to experience a Lambert Leap from Dante.  He does it often with Ellen, but it caught me by surprise.  If he is excited, his first step of a trot transition is a big leap.  Then he proceeds with his slow, quiet trot.

When we were nearly back to the river, we did trot the short section of trail by the fence.  This time, Dante kept up with Cole.  He is even super smooth when he is going faster.

We both had great rides, and I am sure we will do it again in the future.