The Reunited Trio of Horsewomen

The Reunited Trio of Horsewomen

Finally, Ellen, Shari and I were able to go on a trail ride together.  Due to Shari's work schedule last year, we had hardly any rides together.  The previous year, we had a lot of them, and we had a lot of fun.  This year, Shari's work schedule is more favorable, and finally, finally we were all able to ride together.

Ellen was a little nervous about it.  She has only been trail riding a short time this year, and Bella is often a handful.  The last few rides I had with her, though, have been wonderful.  I was hopeful that the ride would go smoothly.

Shari keeps her horse down the street from us.  We met at the appointed time, and off we went.  The trip down the hill and across the river were typical.  Once we got across, Shari took the lead, followed by Ellen on Dante and then me.  We began trotting right away.  Dante, usually the slowest horse in the bunch, was excited and kept up with Bella.  That made my ride easy.  We were traveling at a speed that is very easy for Cole--neither too fast or too slow.

We didn't stop until we got to the section where the trail was washed out.  Dante walked fast enough to keep up with Bella, too.  Once we got to a good section of trail, it was time to trot.  There, I saw the most amazing thing.  Dante passed up Bella and took the lead.  They only went a short way, but Bella didn't seem to mind that Dante was in the lead.  Typically, Bella will not tolerate another horse leading and will try her hardest to barrel past.

The next section of trail is one that we often canter our horses.  They all like to go faster there, regardless of the gait.  We decided to see what happened if we kept Dante in lead and trotted.  We knew Dante would enjoy leading, but we didn't know what Bella would do.  Cole is happy to take up the rear, as long as everyone goes fast enough.

Honestly, I couldn't believe my eyes.  We trotted at a great speed, and Bella stayed in place.  She wanted to pass Dante, but Shari was able to convince her that she shouldn't--and she didn't.  We went a long way, too.  It was amazing and wonderful.

Was this really our first ride all together?

We crossed the river, and on that section of trail Ellen felt better walking.  It was only her second time up there this year.  We walked to the end, turned around and walked back.  Once we recrossed the river, we wanted to put Bella in the lead.  She started to act like Starry does when he is in that spot and refused to go forward  She even took a step backwards.  It didn't take much to get her to change her mind.  She took the lead.  We showed Ellen where the tree fell--and then we started trotting, again.  Bella first, followed by Dante and then Cole,

It went great--until we were nearly at the end of the section.  There is a sandy section of trail where our guys seem to want to accelerate.  Accelerate Dante did--he took off at a gallop.  Dante had a Cole Burst.  Ellen doubted that he would attempt passing Bella, and she was right.  She was easily able to stop him before he reached her.  Ellen wasn't intimidated by the unusual behavior--she laughed.

The whole ride was terrific.  Ellen was worried in the beginning, but she ended up having as much fun as we did.  She knows that Dante will slow down to his usual self in a few weeks--and she just enjoyed him being a little bit speedier.

It was a great ride, and I am sure it is the first of many.