Ooops!

Ooops!

Kevin, Shari and I were having a great ride the other day.  We were on our way home, and Kevin wanted to try to put Starry in the lead.  We worked it out and once Starry was where Kevin wanted him, he wanted to trot.  Shari and I were on the top of a little hill, and we didn't want to trot until we got to the bottom.  We told Kevin to go on and trot.  We talked it over and decided that we would stay walking.  We had some trouble with Bella last time when she kept prancing to catch up with Starry when he was in the lead.  We worked it out that time, and we wanted to see how Bella did this time.

I am glad to say that Bella was great.  We walked a while, and then we did some trotting, too.  Kevin was no where to be seen.  Our horses were acting like they forgot all about Starry.

When we got to the river that we cross to go home, there Kevin and Starry were--standing in the water.  They both seemed so relaxed.  Since Starry was so content to be in the river, Bella crossed.  Starry just stood.  I brought Cole into the water.  We passed up Starry.

I felt one of Cole's back feet start to slide under him.  Before I knew what happened, he lost his balance and down we went.  The water wasn't deep at all, but the bottom of the river there is smooth slate with a layer of algae.  It is very slippery.  As I hit the water, I looked over to Kevin in time to see him doing the same thing!  Unlike me, who slid out of Cole's way, Starry landed on Kevin's leg.  It was awful to see.

Everybody was on their feet, quickly.  I don't even remember standing up.  I just kept Cole in the water as I looked him over.  Every time Cruiser fell in the river, I would have to retrain him to cross.  Cole is a much bolder horse than Cruiser was, but I still wanted him to not associate the fall with water in general.  I don't know if it did one bit of good, but it was the best I could come up with.  Kevin did the same with Starry.

Throughout all of this, Bella just stood and watched.  At least Shari stayed in the saddle.  We were all able to walk out of the river and I breathed a sigh of relief.

We all walked up the hill.  What a relief we could all walk!  I was completely unscathed.  Other than the fact that I was soaking wet, I would have never known that I fell off.  Kevin was very sore, but he was mobile.  The horses seemed fine.

The next day, Kevin was too sore to ride.  Shari and I went on a ride, even though we saw the storm clouds coming our way.  I wanted to see if Cole would cross the river. 

We got to the water's edge, and he stepped right in!  Not a single bit of hesitation.  I clicked and gave him a bunch of treats.  We went on a fast and fun ride.  Right as we were about to turn around, it started to rain, but it wasn't a bad rain for a warm day.  We trotted most of the way back.  When we crossed the river on the way home, I clicked Cole for going in the water.  He didn't stop for his treat, which told me that he was a little anxious and wanted to get to the other side.  I asked him to stop--and clicked him for that.  He got a handful of treats, again.  We took a few more steps, and I asked for another halt.  He did and got a click.

All is well that ends well.  Since most of our river crossings are short, we decided that we will cross the water one at a time--just in case.  We did this a lot, anyways.  Cole doesn't like a horse behind him--splashing.  Dante is usually slow to get into the water.  It really won't be much of an inconvenience.  On the larger crossings, we will just put a lot of space between us.

We think that Cole just hit a slippery slope in the river, and I will avoid that area in the future.