Forecast for no Riding

Forecast for no Riding

They were predicting rain, and my sister, Ellen, said if it was raining to not bother meeting her the next morning.  When I saw the forecast on the 11:00 news, it looked very bleak.  They predicted rain in the morning--after a rainy night.  Even if it wasn’t raining, the river was too high.

I emailed her that I probably wouldn't be out there because of the weather.  I felt really crummy.  

I really did want to ride with Ellen, so I still set my clock to get up.  When it went off I could hear the rain on the roof.  I checked the radar, and I saw that there was rain over us, but it looked like it was moving out--and then there wouldn’t be any rain for a while.

I decided to head out to the barn.  If the river was too high, she might not want to ride on the hill.  I would watch her ride Dante in the arena and then maybe ride Cole on Ranger’s walk.  I really don't know what I would do, but at least I could keep Ellen company.

When I got there, she was saddled and bridled and ready to go in the arena.  She didn’t think I was coming out.  By now, the rain had stopped, just as the radar predicted.  When she told me the river was crossable, I couldn’t believe my good fortune.  I had to do a little coaxing, but not all that much.  I told her the rain stopped--and we should just go.

We rode down the hill to the river.  It started drizzling.  The river was a little high, but crossable.  I told her it was her call.  She said we should just do the hill.  I asked her if she was sure, because the hill is either difficult--or boring.  I told her it would be an easier ride if we crossed.  She hesitated for about 3 seconds and then agreed.

Ellen gets nervous crossing rivers, even when they are low.  She gets nervous riding on rainy days because Dante is somewhat troubled by loud traffic on wet roads.  She worries about thunderstorms--after all, we were caught in a doosy, years ago, and a tree fell right next to us.  She gets nervous about lots of things.  Yet, here we were on a rainy day crossing a higher than normal river!  Like it was nothing!  This was awesome.

It started raining a little harder.  I was beginning to think I looked at the wrong radar.  Af first, Dante was pretty pokey.  I tried to follow, but he was too slow for Cole.  She told me to go in the lead.

Cole went faster--and Dante did too!  Ellen didn't seem to be nervous at all.  She seemed to like it!  We moved out faster, and so did she.  Dante didn’t go as fast as Cole, but he was going at a good trot.

When we got to the section we like to canter, she wanted to go in the lead to do a some of it.  We started at a fast trot.  Dante will always trot faster, here, because he is hoping to canter.  I typically let them canter, and Cole trots behind.  Dante started to canter, and I did something unusual--I asked Cole to canter, too.  This is the trail that Cole sprouts wings at a canter.  I will ride in front of my companions, and we will go off like a rocket.  At the end, I just wait for them to catch up.  In this season of hyper horses, no one has allowed me to do that, so I haven’t cantered much at all this year.  It was time to try something new--cantering behind another horse.

Cole did well, but he was going too fast.  In a short time, I had to bring him back to a trot--but the good news is he did just that--came back to a trot.  Ellen asked Dante to trot, too, a few seconds later, but he didn’t just trot--he trotted faster than he has ever trotted with Ellen before.  I know this because we were following.  I think he was trotting faster than he was just cantering.  It was awesome!  Ellen wasn’t afraid in the least.  She just went along for the ride.

It was time to turn around and head for home.  It was still raining, but not really bad at all.  There were no bugs, and it wasn’t too cold.

We did a mixture of walking and trotting on the way home.  Ellen’s braveness was giving way, and she was nervous that her nervousness might cause Dante to be nervous crossing the elevated river.  I was a good sister and agreed to switch horses.  Dante crossed the river well, and then we waited for Ellen.  

Poor Ellen, Cole decided he wanted treats.  He got stuck on the river bank--demanding treats.  When she convinced him to enter the water--I don’t know how many treats it took, he walked fast.  Well, it wasn’t fast for Cole--but fast for Ellen.  I heard her whining the whole time they crossed.  

“Cole, slow down.  Cole you are going too fast--slow down.”  Cole ignored her, of course.  He knew how to get her safely across.  Cole always takes care of Ellen.

Ellen told me the reason she was so easy to convince to go on the ride was because she wasn’t anticipating it.  Since she thought I wouldn’t be there, she just figured on an arena ride--and she had no real anxiety except with the river on the way home.  I think I should do that in the future--tell her I’m not coming out--and show up.

It never did stop raining all day--it only got worse.