Group Ride

Group Ride

On a lovely February day, I was planning to go for a ride with Kevin and Shari when Cheri and Sharon showed up.  Kevin invited them the day before, but we didn't really think they would be there.  It was a little chilly for a ride so early in the morning.

Poor Ellen didn't know they were going to join us.  When she got out of her car, she looked a little pale, but she was still going to go on the ride.  She figured that at worst, she could just stay way in the back with Kevin on Starry.

We thought about it and realized that Cole, Dante and Bella had never gone for a ride in such a big group before.  We had ridden in a group of 5 but never in 6.  Would one additional horse make a difference?  We were about to find out.  

Cheri's horse, Warrior, is a short, wide Paint that looks like he came right out of a Thelwell book.  We've been out on a few rides with them in the past, and they have gone very well.

Sharon's horse, Karma, is a blue dun Quarter Horse.  In her old life, she was a horse that was rented out on trail rides.  We knew she had plenty of group experience--but she was never with our group.

Bella is happiest in the lead, so that is where she was.  Shari decided to take charge of the ride, and Bella liked that role, too.  Cole followed Bella and the slow horses were in the back.

We rode down the hill and crossed the river with no problem.  Once across, Shari wanted to try trotting right away.  I really didn't think the others would follow, so I trotted after Shari.  Much to my surprise, Karma and Warrior were trotting right behind me.  Cole didn't feel comfortable with this, and he told me my tossing his head and trying to accelerate.  I kept him under control, but I have to confess, I was relieved when Shari stopped so we could let Ellen and Kevin catch up.   

We did this a few times and all went well.  Shari suggested trying to go a little faster.  I knew that would help Cole.  The first time we tried it, I heard Sharon's voice behind me, and it didn't sound very good, so I immediately stopped.  She said that Karma tried to buck.  Cheri said that she saw what happened--and in her opinion, Karma did buck.  We let everyone decompress a little as we let Kevin and Ellen get closer.  They were doing little stretches of trotting, and it seemed like they were doing well.  

We tried another section of trotting, and this time, Cole jumped in the air and tried to canter.  I got him to stop after just one stride, and looked back.  Karma was behind me, and Sharon said that she bucked 4 times.  Well, that is when I thought we pushed it too far.  I turned Cole around and went back with Ellen and Kevin.  We just moseyed along and left the others to go on their ride.

I was surprised to see them start trotting right away, but I could see they were doing fine.  Soon, they were out of sight. 

At first, all we did was walk.  Ellen was very nervous.  This was all just a little too much for her.  She said that if it had been summer and we were riding in the park 5 days a week, it wouldn't have been much of a problem.  Here it was February!  We were lucky to have her at all, let alone with 5 other horses.  After a bit, Kevin was able to talk her into trying some trotting, and it went well.  We found everyone else waiting for us at the second river crossing.  It turns out that they trotted the whole way and it went great!  I am thinking that it was Cole being ahead of Karma that made her so reactive.  Once he was gone, all went well.

We rode back with them.  They did more trotting than we did, but they kept waiting for us.  Warrior, was a champ with everything that Cherie asked him, but he did not like standing around, waiting.  Cheri found something she needs to work on, and she plans to do it when she is out riding with just Sharon.

Starry was perfect the whole ride.  What a wonderful horse he is.  Dante was a bit keyed up, but Ellen thinks it might be because she was nervous.  He did spook once--and took off at a trot. That is very unusual for him.  He seldom spooks at all.

Everybody arrived home safely and had smiles on their faces.  It was a successful though sometimes challenging ride!