Dante Takes Kevin for a Ride

Dante Takes Kevin for a Ride

Kevin had our friend, Grace, out to ride Starry.  Ellen had to work, so she offered to let Kevin ride Dante.

Kevin rides Dante every year or two--not often enough for him to really know what he's like. Of course, he is a very good, safe horse, and anyone could ride him, but there are little things about him that could surprise a new rider.

I arrived at the river long before Starry and Dante, which is normal, and Cole was having a drink.  When Dante reached the bottom of the hill, he took off trotting.  He never does that.  I thought that maybe Starry got too close to him.  Kevin doubted that was the problem, but he admits he wasn't paying attention to where Starry was--and Grace didn't know she had to be careful not to get too close to Dante.

Dante is very sensitive to horses in his personal space.  Ellen is very careful to keep Dante clear of other horses or at least have him standing when they pass.  Starry is notorious for startling Dante, though Kevin seldom realizes it.  (He is like Mr. Magoo in that sense.)  He is usually not looking.  Often, all it takes is for Starry to swish his tail or kick at a bug, and Dante reacts.  Ellen is constantly warning Kevin not to ride too close, and Kevin typically replies, "Don't worry, Dante isn't afraid of Starry."

This has gone on for years.

When I told Kevin why Dante probably trotted away, he was very skeptical.  He still is.

By now, all three of us were down by the river's edge with Starry in the middle.  For whatever reason, Starry swung his hindquarters toward Dante.  He only took one step, but that was enough for Dante to jump and spin.  This time, it was obvious what happened--and Kevin was very surprised.

The nice thing about Dante is that he always calms right down, and he did this time, too.  We crossed the river with no other problem.  On the other side, we decided to put Starry first, followed by Dante and I would stay in back to keep an eye on things.  Grace asked Starry to move into the lead, and just as he started to pass Dante, he began trotting.  I watched Dante take a single side step into the woods.  Kevin didn't notice, so I didn't tell him.  Dante then trotted off behind Starry.

Kevin was enjoying Dante's smoothness--the exact opposite of Starry's bone-jarring trot.  Dante was much slower, and Grace had to keep stopping Starry to let us catch up to them.  Kevin didn't seem to care.  He loved just sitting the trot for a change.  Cole practiced his transitions.  He would trot up to Dante, walk for a while and trot back up.  Some days, he is willing to slow down to Dante's speed, but not this time.

Ellen only gave us permission to ride to the second river crossing.  She didn't say we couldn't do some back and forth, though.  We turned around, trotted towards home for a half mile and planned to trot back to the second river crossing.  Grace and I had to wait for Dante.  When he caught up with us, we decided to put him behind us before we started trotting to the second river.  That meant he had to pass us.

I went behind Starry by about ten feet to a wider part of the trail.  Grace was on the corner where the trail is a bit narrow.  There was plenty of room for Dante to pass.  Any other horse would have been just fine.

As Dante went around the corner, he turned his head to grab some branches to munch on.  Kevin pulled his head back--and Dante saw Starry just a few feet from his side.  He leapt up into the air and took off running!  Cole just watched him canter past--he has been ridden with Starry for so many miles that he is used to horses getting into his personal space.

Like I said, Dante calms down very quickly, and as soon as he thought he was safe from Starry, he stopped.  Well, at least he was now behind us where we wanted him.  We all trotted off to the second river crossing, and it was completely uneventful.

Kevin was now convinced that maybe Dante does act out when other horses are too close to him.  After that, both he and Grace were more careful.  I was chuckling inside.

When we crossed the river on the way home, we could see a group of three horses coming down the hill.  Kevin immediately took Dante off the trail into a large clearing alongside it, and let him watch the horses travel down the hill.  We joined him, but he warned us not to get too close.  I was chuckling inside even more.

Kevin wisely let Dante watch the whole thing.  When the horses passed us up, he quietly watched that, too.  Kevin now understands Ellen's caution.  I told Ellen that I didn't think Kevin will ever again say, "Don't worry, Dante isn't afraid of Starry," again.

In spite of all that, Kevin had a wonderful time, and he hopes that Ellen will let him ride Dante again.