Our Successes

Our Successes

The trail riding season is winding down for the year.  Of course, we will still be riding whenever we can, but it gets harder with the weather.  Rain, snow, high rivers, extreme cold, ice, frozen rivers--it gets tough this time of year.  For Shari, it is even tougher because she has to deal with the early sunset.

We have accomplished so much this year.  Thirteen was our lucky number.  Bella, Dante and Cole all turned thirteen this year. 

For Bella, thirteen is the year she matured.  Sure, she still has some "Bella moments," but there are far less than there used to be.  This year, Shari has been able to ride more regularly, and that had really helped Bella.  Her biggest accomplishment was learning to allow other horses to lead.  She never wanted to follow in the past.  If a horse got ahead of her, she would blast past.  We have been working on training her to follow for years--letting other horses take the lead at a walk.  Over time, she got better and better.  This year, she started to let other horses lead at a trot.  Usually, is is Starry in the lead. 

That is the next big success.  Starry is leading whenever we want him to, and it isn't hard for Kevin to get him to take the lead.  Sometimes, he has to circle Starry first, but often they just march right into the lead.  We no longer have to fuss to put him in the lead like we had to in the past.  It is fantastic!

Ellen has got Dante crossing the first river crossing like a dream.  I will never stop appreciating the way he walks right down the bank and crosses the water without a whole lot of fussing.  Sometimes there is no fussing at all!  They are working on the other river crossings to make them as good as the first one.

Ellen has learned a very important thing this year--she has learned to let Dante be a horse.  Horses spook, make mistakes and sometimes misunderstand us.  Ellen has realized that she was expecting too much from Dante--and when there was a hiccup, she blew it all out of proportion in her mind--and would get so disappointed.  Now she is letting Dante be a horse.  If he spooks at something--that is normal--not a crisis.  The best thing about Dante is if something frightens him, he gets over it really fast.  Now, Ellen is doing the same thing.

Ellen spent a lot of time in the last few months working on her riding while on trail.  It is something we all know we should do--but it is hard to focus on our own equitation when there is so much else to focus on out on the trail.  When Ellen rode Ranger, she always posted his trot.  Dante's trot is so much different--it is very easy to sit.  Ellen never learned to ride a sitting trot, before.  She has been trying new things and adjusting here and there.  I saw them riding in the arena--and honestly, Dante never trotted so well and so consistent.  She said it was hard work, but it was hard work that paid off--big time.

And then there is Cole.  What did Cole and I learn--slowness!  We were working on it last year, so it isn't anything new.  What is amazing is how well he did this year.  We want to be able to trot as slow as Dante so we can ride together.  I would position him behind Dante as we trotted.  Sometimes Dante trotted so slow that I thought it was physically impossible for Cole to match his speed.  Well, guess what?  He can do it.  With a lot of praise and some well-timed clicks, he learned to slow his trot down with only light contact on the reins.  I can even sit the trot if I want to. 

When the 4 of us go out for a ride, often Starry is in the lead with Bella close behind.  Way back, Dante trots his slow trot with Cole following him.  A year ago, I would have said this would be impossible  Sometimes I feel like I am in the twilight zone.

It wasn't easy to get to this place, but we are here, and it is a good place to be.