Unfortunately, anxieties aren't very logical. Ellen gets nervous when any one thing changes in her routine. It could be snow on the ground, wind or adding another horse. Her nerves were very high that morning.
Dante didn't seem to care that Bella was there. We rode down the hill. Shari and I crossed the river and waited on the other side. Last year, that would have meant a long wait, but Ellen worked with improving the speed of Dante's river crossings all summer, and he got so much better. Well, he crossed as readily as he did when Ellen stopped riding him last year.
The worst part of the ride was over!
After we crossed the river, we walked for a few minutes. Bella was in the lead, Dante was next and Cole took up the rear. Dante suddenly and inexplicably took off at a trot. Ellen was able to stop him before he reached Bella, and we continued walking. Ellen thought that I may have gotten too close with Cole, though there were some feet between us.
A few minutes later, it happened again. This was really strange behavior. We decided to put Cole ahead of Dante, too. If Cole was getting Dante nervous, that would fix the problem.
When we reached a nice section of the trail, we started to trot. We asked Bella and Cole to go slow so Dante could keep up, and they more than complied with our request. Ellen told us we were going too slow. We asked for just a little more speed, and that was all Dante needed. He started to accelerate too much. Ellen asked us to stop. This is also not typical of Dante. We could trot out of sight, and most of the time, he could care less.
By now, Ellen's heightened nerves were soaring. I had an idea. Our final stretch of trail is a great one for trotting. She could trot ahead without us. By practicing transitions, she could get him to focus on her, and we would be out of her way. In the meantime, Bella and Cole could learn to allow Dante to leave them. We would all be training.
It worked. Dante calmed down beautifully. Bella and Cole walked politely behind until the end when we politely trotted to catch up with them. All was right in the world again--except Ellen's nerves were shot. She couldn't wait to get back so she could get off. She just felt terrible.
We walked all the way back, crossed the river with no drama, hopped off and we talked about the ride as we walked up the hill. Ellen realized that the things that Dante did--trotting unexpectedly and speeding up his trot were really no big deal. If it was Cole's third ride on the trail after months of being away from it, I would have thought he had a stellar ride--same with Bella. It was Ellen's heightened nerves that made it seem so much worse than it was.
In the end, we congratulated ourselves on the successful ride. Dante was a little hyper, but Ellen was always able to handle him and in the end he came around and was a very good horse. He was super with her big worries--the river and a plane that flew overhead. We know that next time, he will be better.
The Three Amigas are back together, and it is going to be a great summer!
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