As I have mentioned, we have had near constant rain from the time the snow melted. Many days, we couldn't cross the river--and when we could cross, Ellen couldn't because it was still too high for her comfort level. Though she had ridden him in the park in May a few times, June was even worse. It has been several weeks since she crossed the river, and she was just as nervous as if she hadn't crossed at all.
Since we cut Dante's food back, he hasn't lost any weight, but his spooking and spinning when he heard loud planes fly overhead has greatly decreased. Unfortunately, it hasn't completely disappeared. He did have a couple big spooks when she was leading him in the driveway last week. That didn't help her confidence at all.
Of course, the river makes her nervous--it always has. Now, she has a new worry--what if the plane flies over when she is crossing the river!
She could have crossed,yesterday, but the river was still a bit cloudy. She promised me--and Dante--that she would not ride in the arena, today.
Because, though she has been missing out on trail riding, she has been training in earnest in the arena. Dante has gotten very sticky--wanting to stop--being unwilling to go--trotting only 5 steps and stopping--and then being unwilling to go...
All of that has improved dramatically. They still have work to do, but they are on their way. I joked that the "horse gods" wanted her to solve that problem before she went back on the trail. She knows that it bleeds into everything.
So, the big day arrived. She was a bundle of nerves the day before. Her digestive system was doing flip-flops. Her heart was racing, and her breathing was shallow. Did I say anything about her light-headedness? She had read that to beat horse anxieties, all you need is "twenty seconds of insane courage." It is so true. Most everything that can go wrong will only last 20 seconds--probably even less--it is just that time seems to stand still when it happens. She was working up her courage for those 20 seconds
She didn't know how much she would ride Dante and how much she would ride Cole. She led Dante down the hill to the mounting block by the river. On the way down, we could hear a mower on the other side of the river. It kept getting louder and louder. I knew that would be one more thing to make the river crossing difficult for her--and then it drove away! The horse gods were smiling on us! Ellen started to cry; in relief. She really, really wanted to do this, and she didn't know if she could with that mower. It might just be too much.
I was waiting for her to ask to ride Cole across the river, but she marched to the mounting block and got right on Dante. It was time for those 20 seconds. She wanted Cole to stand about halfway across the river until she got to it; then we would finish crossing and make room for them.
Dante marched down the bank to the river's edge; and I commenced crossing. No sooner did I get to the other side, when I heard Dante splashing behind us. He didn't stall out on the edge! He didn't stall out in the water! He didn't rush out! It was his best river crossing ever!!!
Wow, what a way to start a ride.
We trotted out towards our goal; the next river crossing. Ellen always relaxes when she can trot. They led, and Cole was happy to follow. We turned around and trotted part of the way back. Dante did spook once. We think it may have been a squirrel. All he did was slam on the brakes, take a step back and then proceed down the trail. That is a good kind of spook; a thinking horse spook. We had no problems with him spooking at any of the planes.
She wanted me to ride Dante back across the river. We switched horses, and I went first. He negotiated the extremely bad mud on the river bank like the good mountain horse that he is. I was worried that he would rush at the end or try to bolt up as he did with me early in the spring, but he walked a nice, steady speed. I turned him sharply when we got out of the water to prevent him from looking straight up the bank and getting bad ideas, dismounted and gave him a carrot. He was awesome. Once again, it was his best river crossing on the way home--ever.
Ellen rode Cole across, gave him to me and led Dante up the hill. He was flawless the rest of the way home. What a wonderful, wonderful ride. He wasn't as good as he was when we quit last fall--he was better.
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