Sometimes You Just Need to Talk Things Out

Sometimes You Just Need to Talk Things Out

My sister has been crossing the second river crossing on Dante on a regular basis.  Since the incident where she fell on the ford, it just makes more sense.  They will have plenty of opportunities to go across on the ford when the river is higher--since it is very busy with summer traffic, the river is a better place.

But there is a reason that Ellen doesn't like the river there; even when she is no longer nervous on it.  Dante just goes so slow.  He is slow to step into the water, and he stops often.  It is very frustrating for her.  I swear, sometimes it takes 10 minutes/

This river crossing is a little wider and quite a bit deeper than the first one, but there is hardly any current at all.  We do have to maneuver around some rocks if we want to stay out of the deeper area--which can be tricky, but that shouldn't bother Dante any.

We were on our way home the other day.  I already crossed the easy first river crossing and was watching from the other side.  Dante walked right down the bank and stepped into the water.  He then crossed the river and came up the other side--just like any ordinary horse.

I mentioned to Ellen how strange it was that he is so good with that crossing and so terrible with the other one.  Now, he wasn't always this good on the first river crossing.  He used to do all the same things.  That is when she told me how determined she was last year to get across the water before an airplane came over.  Last year is when he got really bad about spooking at the airplanes, and they are very loud and low by the river crossing.  The bottom of it is extremely slippery shale--not a good place for a spook.

She mentioned that she noticed she is getting distracted by every noise at the other river crossing and wondered if that was playing into Dante's reluctance to cross.  He is very sensitive to her every move.

This gave us food for thought.  Could she improve his crossing by improving her focus?  It had helped her considerably in the arena.  We both pondered it.

My sister and I are alike in so many ways, but this isn't one of them.  I can easily focus on the task at hand and block everything else out.  I don't even have to try--that is just how I am.  I remember when I was in college many years ago and I worked at a gas station.  I used to be able to blast the radio, keep an eye on the self serve and full serve pumps, wait on any customers and study for tests--all at the same time.  I always forget that many people don't have that gift and have to work at it.  It never occurred to me that Ellen might be having an attention problem.

Well, Ellen decided to work at it the next day.  Shari and Kevin rode on ahead of us.  Ellen took Dante down to the river, clicked him when he stepped into the water, asked him to cross--and he did!  Just like that!  He just crossed the river!  I was in shock.  So were Kevin and Shari when we caught up with them much quicker than expected.

On the way home, it went even better.  That time, Shari and Kevin watched and were in awe.  They wanted to know what Ellen did differently, and she told them the story.

I knew Dante would do better, but I never expected such immediate and dramatic results.  We feel that with practice, Dante will simply get into the habit of crossing like a regular horse.  After all, that's what he is!