Dante is Dante

Cole, Starry and even Bella have become consistent on the trail.  Starry was easy--we just had to get used to him wanting to lead.  (What is with that?)  Cole was doing good, but he had a bad ride last week that was right out of the blue.  I'm glad to say it was a one time thing, and he is back to normal.  Bella came around with what Ellen and I call a "5-day blitz."  Shari rode her 5 days in a row, and in the end she was back to her old self.

That left us with Dante.  Due to her nervousness, Ellen had been waiting for the weather to be decent and the river to be on the low side for his first day out.  Those days were few and far between.  This year, spring was extremely elusive.  We had snow just last week!

The forecast is improving, and in a few days, there is supposed to be a perfect day.  She picked out the day for her maiden voyage of the year.  Ellen and I were taking Ranger on his morning constitutional; talking about it.  She told me she almost wanted to do it today since the river was so low, but it was just too cold.  (The temps were in the 30s, and it was cloudy.)  I really didn't blame her.  Most horses are friskier on colder days--making it harder for the first ride out.  She seemed so disappointed, so I told her I would ride him if she liked and she could ride Cole.

She brightened up; immediately.  The plan was on.   We turned Dante out to play in the outdoor arena and let him run some bucks out.  Of course, he had to roll.  I told Ellen she could brush Dante, and I would get Cole ready.

She assured me that she wouldn't want to switch horses during the ride, so that meant I could use my favorite saddle which doesn't fit Cole because he is just too little--the WWII Japanese Military saddle.  I used it exclusively on Mingo, and when he died I used it on Cruiser.  The only thing I don't like about Cole is that he can't wear this saddle.  Ellen wasn't too thrilled about me using it.  It has no knee support at all, and it is easy to come off of.  I assured her I would be fine.

Kevin came out, and we suggested that he ride Starry out ahead of us and meet us at the turnaround point.  Then he could go home with us.  For the first ride, we didn't want Starry to complicate things.

Here is a list of our concerns about the ride.
1. Dante would be nervous around cars.
2. Dante would misbehave going through the giant mud pit that wasn't there last year.
3. Dante wouldn't want to go down the river bank.
4. Dante wouldn't like the mud leading to the river's edge.
5. Dante would refuse to cross the river by doing his slow spin routine--he does that every year.
6. Dante would go into the river, but spook if he did his business while crossing because he gets splashed.
7. Dante would spook near the fence from traffic because it is right by the road--and he does that every year on the first ride.
8. Dante would be hyper and not listen.

Yes, it is a rather long list, but at least he doesn't have Cole bursts--which are when Cole leaps into the air and tries to run down the trail--just because he feels good.  (Why did Ellen really want to ride Cole?)

I led Dante down the street and a couple cars passed us.  He handled them like a champ.  When we got to the start of the trail, he did get nervous when he was in close proximity to Cole, which was no surprise.  This is always a big problem in the spring which improves over time.  No big deal.

As we headed down the trail, Cole took the lead and was walking very, very fast.  Could it be that he knew Starry was ahead?  Dante walked very, very fast behind him.  That was far from normal.  He generally walks extremely slow, and I have to stop and wait for them to catch up.

We went through the bad mud pit as if he did it every day.  When we got to the bottom of the hill, he marched right down the bank, into the mud, swerved off our path a little to where the mud was deeper, started sinking--and froze!  I didn't know what to do!  I wanted to keep momentum up so I could get him to the edge of the river without the slow spin.  Then I realized what was happening.  He was doing his business before entering into the water--as we were training him to do it, last year.  He got a peppermint.  Another problem was checked off the list.

He then went right to the edge of the river with no refusing.  As soon as he got a step into the water, I clicked and treated him.  Then, he marched right across!  No slow spin!  What an awesome horse!

He wanted to trot along the fence like we usually do.  I wanted to walk the first time, and he listened.  A few cars went by, and he didn't flinch.  I was bragging about it to Ellen, and she reminded me that his  yearly spook happens on the way home.

We spent the first part of the time walking.  The trail was recently washed out from the big storm, and it is quite the mess.  Dante was looking at all the changes; as expected.  He is an very observant horse.  He was also tossing his head a bit, but he does that.

When we got to a good section of trail, I put Dante in the lead to do some trotting.  Dante has a much slower trot than Cole, and I didn't want him to get hyped up if Cole got too far away.  I braced myself for the Lambert Leap--something he nearly always does on his trot transitions on the trail.  It was a big one--and then he settled right into his slow, smooth and beautiful trot.  I could ride it all day.

Cole didn't like it, though.  Ellen was having trouble regulating him.  He was trying to charge up and pass.  It just wasn't working.  We returned to a walk.  I got what I wanted--to see if Dante would do a safe trot--and he was marvelous.

We walked on until we met Kevin on Starry at the next river crossing.  We turned around and headed home at a walk.  The big question was--will the bromance between Starry and Dante continue?  Remember, Starry has had trouble leading when Dante was there to follow.  Lately, he had been very willing to lead with Cole.

Then we realized the truth.  Starry isn't fixated on Dante--he is fixated on Ellen!!!  He willingly passed Dante so he could follow Cole, but he didn't want to pass Cole.  If I am riding Cole, he doesn't care.  It is all about Ellen.  (And Bella, if she is there.)

The trip home was uneventful, except that we all got cold.  Dante was fine along the fence and didn't give us his yearly spook.  The only unexpected thing; which was expected was when Starry started to act out and scared Dante.  Dante spun and tried to run away from him.  Starry has the same effect on Cole, so I was used to the sudden spin.  Only thing was that Cole spins left most of the time, and Dante spun to the right.

Cole was much better with Ellen than he has been on her last few rides with him.  She enjoyed him, thoroughly.

The whole ride went so well.  Dante didn't do a thing that was on our list.  Even with the cold weather on his first trail ride of the season, he acted like it was in the middle of the summer.  The only out of the ordinary thing he did was walk faster--and we wish he would do that all the time.  What a wonderful horse.

I am happy to say, Dante is Dante.