Mud Rush

Mud Rush

Mud rush is a phenomenon that I have been experiencing for a long time, but I never knew what to call it.  Ellen came up with a perfect name for it.

When you are riding on the trail and encounter some mud, an excited horse tends to speed up when he goes through it.  Not only can they speed up, they may change gaits or even explode!  

It is, of course, a bigger problem with young and green horses.  When I am out on a new horse, and I come to mud that is trottable--if I am trotting, I come down to a walk.  If I am walking, I am vigilant and I certainly won’t canter through it.  After I get to know the horse’s tolerance to mud rush, I adjust what I do.

Even though Cole is very, very familiar with mud, if he is hyper--I walk.  Muddy river banks may cause Cole to burst up.  (Cruiser used to do the same thing when I wasn't  paying attention.)  When I think Cole may act out, I will have him stop at the bottom and ask him to walk up like a gentleman.  That doesn’t always work, so if he is in a “mood,” I make sure there is no one directly ahead of him that he may startle.

When he is in a steady mood, I don’t worry about muddy river banks, and I let him go through the mud.  I may give him a half halt if he is in a borderline mood.  It’s all about knowing your horse and knowing his mood at the time.

Now, mud rush isn’t always such a bad thing.  Dante is a quieter horse, and Ellen uses the mud to her advantage.  He will speed up when he feels the softness under his feet.  She will even use light mud as a good spot to ask for a canter transition.  She has another technique.  If she has gotten far behind Cole, she will trot right through the mud to catch up with us--knowing I will either stop or take a longer route around the mud to avoid mud rush with Cole.

As far as I know, Starry is completely unaffected by mud, and I don’t even know if Kevin is aware that we can have problems with mud rush.  He walks through bad mud and trots through the rest.  If we are following him, we will ask him to stop at the mud, and of course, he does.  I don’t know if he knows why, though.

So, if you have a wonderful horse like Starry, please keep in mind that other horses you are with may have a case of mud rush.