Ellen and the Second River Crossing

Ellen and the Second River Crossing

To be able to ride over an hour means we have to cross the river a second time--regardless of the direction we go.  Ellen is really good crossing the first river, but the second rivers have always been a problem for her.

Dante isn't afraid to cross, but he likes to stop, look around, play in the water, take a step, stop, look around, play in the water...  The longer Ellen is in the water, the more nervous she gets.  When Dante senses her nervousness, he stops, looks around, plays in the water...

Ellen doesn't always get nervous, but the whole process can be so dragged out, that it is just easier to cross on the ford.  Everyone, including Ellen, agrees that if the river is low enough to cross, it is safer than riding on the ford with the traffic, so that is really where we want to be.

The second river crossing is much deeper than the first one, and we don't like to cross it unless we can see the bottom--at least a little bit.  Consequently, there are less chances to cross it in the spring if it is rainy.  There are also days that Kevin and I can cross, but it is still too high for Ellen.

Early in May, she spent many rides just going up to the edge of it or walking in a few feet, but she just couldn't bring herself to try crossing.  Dante liked the game because he could stand, look around, play in the water...

Ellen was starting to think that I should ride him across the first few times.  I've done that before for her; including last year.  She can then practice on Cole.  There is one risk, though.  There was a day this month when the first river crossing seemed intimidating to her.  I rode Dante across for her--and then I didn't let her have him back until we turned around to go home.  She did ride Dante back across the river to get home.

One morning, the second river was very crossable, but she hadn't planned to cross.  The weather forecast was grim--rain, rain and more rain.  If she didn't cross, she wouldn't be able to try again for a while.  When we got to the river, she rode over to it to take a look.  Kevin asked me if she was going to cross, and I told him that I didn't think so.

I was wrong.  She marched right into the water.  When Dante stopped and tried to play his games, she just told him to keep going.  He kept trying, but she just insisted he cross--and he did.  Ellen triumphantly emerged from the water on the other side.  We followed on our horses and had a lovely ride on the other side.

She wanted to go first when we got back to the river on the way home.  Going home is always easier.  When she got to the other side, I could faintly hear her say, "Yee haw!"

Now we need to work on crossing the second river in the other direction.