A New Challenge Begins

 

 A New Challenge Begins

I may have had Cole for over 10 years, and he might just happen to be a trail horse, extraordinaire, but there are still things that we need to work on.  This might sound odd to most of the people reading this, but he was so bad in the outdoor arena at the old barn, that I just gave up trying to ride in it.  He always wanted to bolt towards the gate.

Now, I had that problem in the indoor arena, too, but I always had plenty of opportunities to work on it--like all winter.  Actually, I had to work on it every single winter.  Those first few rides could be rather scary.

The old outdoor arena was not rideable on those rainy, snowy and very cold days.  It was sand, and it would just get to sloppy.  The days when it was dry, of course I was out riding on the trail.

The arena at the new place has all-weather footing.  I really want to be able to ride in it without worrying about Cole misbehaving.

The other day, when I got back from a trail ride, I rode him just 2 laps in the outdoor arena.  He tried to bolt twice.  It was time to work up a plan.  Fortunately, I have had the experience in the old indoor arena to give me guidance.

I decided I would start by riding him 5 laps in each direction at a walk.  That is a rather boring thing to do, but I brought Ellen along with me on foot.  Her job was to talk to me to help me pass the time.  I knew that the first few laps were the critical ones.  The rest of the laps were for cementing the good habit of walking like a gentleman.  That is when I really needed Ellen--to make sure I really did them.  She also was in charge of counting the laps.  Sometimes, I forget which lap I am on.

This technique is what worked best with Cole in the old indoor arena.  I am glad to say that I have had virtually no problem in the new indoor arena.

Ellen gave me a lot of space in the beginning, so that Cole wouldn't trample her when he bolted.  It wasn't necessary.  He was really good.

He did get distracted and a little worried about things on the first couple laps each direction, but that is all.  It took us about 20 minutes to do it.  When we were done, I brought him in the center and walked some circles and did a few serpentines.  He seemed happy to be doing something less boring--or maybe that was me.

Finally, I asked him to trot a bit.  This is when he got excited, again.  I didn't do much--that will be for another day.

As a reward for a very good training lesson, I let him do some tricks and he got clicked for them.  The whole ride was a success.