Sunday, May 31, 2020
Saturday, May 30, 2020
Friday, May 29, 2020
Wednesday, May 27, 2020
Tuesday, May 26, 2020
Monday, May 25, 2020
Sunday, May 24, 2020
Saturday, May 23, 2020
Friday, May 22, 2020
Thursday, May 21, 2020
Wednesday, May 20, 2020
Tuesday, May 19, 2020
Monday, May 18, 2020
Sunday, May 17, 2020
Saturday, May 16, 2020
Friday, May 15, 2020
Thursday, May 14, 2020
What Should have been Ride 4
What Should have been Ride 4
When it came time for ride 4, the river was a little high. Ellen decided to step back and just do the hill to build her confidence back up. I joined her on foot.
There really isn't much to write about. Dante was perfect. They rode down the hill, trotted back and forth at the bottom a number of times and rode partway up. Ellen led the rest of the way. Complete and perfect success. Ellen's confidence was restored.
She joined Kevin and me on our ride. This time, she was the one on foot. When she does this, she drives down to the park to the other side of the river, because it is still to cold for her to cross it, herself. (I really don't know how the horses tolerate the cold water.)
Kevin and I got across the river before she arrived, so we just took off trotting. We knew we would catch up with her on the way back. We had a fun ride, and since it was a chilly morning, we did a lot of trotting to get nice and warm. That way, we would be comfortable when we caught up with Ellen and walked home.
When we did find her, she was so excited. A birdwatcher showed her a tree that had 2 baby barred owls and a parent. She said they were the cutest thing she ever saw. We couldn't wait to get to there, ourselves. We wanted to see the baby owls, too.
She wasn't kidding. They were about the cutest thing we ever saw--just about half the size of their parent and so fluffy! We watched them for a while. The mother flew off to a different tree, but the 2 babies were each on a branch, watching us.
Though originally disappointed that Ellen didn't go on the trail ride with us, I was now very happy that she didn't. We saw the birdwatcher, and he didn't tell us about the owls--he only pointed them out to Ellen. Now we know where they are so we can check them on every ride.
The next evening, Kevin and I were riding with Shari. We didn't see the owls on the way out, and we thought we didn't see them when we returned; until Shari looked at a different tree. There was one of the babies. Of course, she was just as excited as us.
Her phone has a good camera, so she is the one that took the pictures.
Now, isn't he just about the cutest thing you ever saw?
(By the way, Ellen's ride 4 was the next day, and it went beautifully!)
Wednesday, May 13, 2020
Tuesday, May 12, 2020
Monday, May 11, 2020
The Three Amigas are Back Together
The Three Amigas are Back Together
Ellen's second ride of the year was even more flawless than the first ride; if that is possible. Once again, she was with just Cole and me. On the next ride, Shari was to join us. Bella and Cole have been so terrific, lately, that we foresaw no problem with adding Bella to the mix.
Unfortunately, anxieties aren't very logical. Ellen gets nervous when any one thing changes in her routine. It could be snow on the ground, wind or adding another horse. Her nerves were very high that morning.
Dante didn't seem to care that Bella was there. We rode down the hill. Shari and I crossed the river and waited on the other side. Last year, that would have meant a long wait, but Ellen worked with improving the speed of Dante's river crossings all summer, and he got so much better. Well, he crossed as readily as he did when Ellen stopped riding him last year.
The worst part of the ride was over!
After we crossed the river, we walked for a few minutes. Bella was in the lead, Dante was next and Cole took up the rear. Dante suddenly and inexplicably took off at a trot. Ellen was able to stop him before he reached Bella, and we continued walking. Ellen thought that I may have gotten too close with Cole, though there were some feet between us.
A few minutes later, it happened again. This was really strange behavior. We decided to put Cole ahead of Dante, too. If Cole was getting Dante nervous, that would fix the problem.
When we reached a nice section of the trail, we started to trot. We asked Bella and Cole to go slow so Dante could keep up, and they more than complied with our request. Ellen told us we were going too slow. We asked for just a little more speed, and that was all Dante needed. He started to accelerate too much. Ellen asked us to stop. This is also not typical of Dante. We could trot out of sight, and most of the time, he could care less.
By now, Ellen's heightened nerves were soaring. I had an idea. Our final stretch of trail is a great one for trotting. She could trot ahead without us. By practicing transitions, she could get him to focus on her, and we would be out of her way. In the meantime, Bella and Cole could learn to allow Dante to leave them. We would all be training.
It worked. Dante calmed down beautifully. Bella and Cole walked politely behind until the end when we politely trotted to catch up with them. All was right in the world again--except Ellen's nerves were shot. She couldn't wait to get back so she could get off. She just felt terrible.
We walked all the way back, crossed the river with no drama, hopped off and we talked about the ride as we walked up the hill. Ellen realized that the things that Dante did--trotting unexpectedly and speeding up his trot were really no big deal. If it was Cole's third ride on the trail after months of being away from it, I would have thought he had a stellar ride--same with Bella. It was Ellen's heightened nerves that made it seem so much worse than it was.
In the end, we congratulated ourselves on the successful ride. Dante was a little hyper, but Ellen was always able to handle him and in the end he came around and was a very good horse. He was super with her big worries--the river and a plane that flew overhead. We know that next time, he will be better.
The Three Amigas are back together, and it is going to be a great summer!
Sunday, May 10, 2020
Friday, May 8, 2020
Thursday, May 7, 2020
Wednesday, May 6, 2020
Tuesday, May 5, 2020
The Maiden Voyage
The big day arrived. The river was very low, the temperatures were so chilly that we knew the park would be very quiet, the road was closed to traffic and there were very few planes in the sky. It couldn't be a better day for Ellen's maiden voyage (for the year,) across the river into the main part of the park.
Since Ellen and Dante have been practicing on the hill, leading along the road and riding down the hill were no big deal at all. This made it much easier than in the past. Everything went perfectly.
She wanted me to cross first as I always do. I rode Cole across, turned him around and waited anxiously on the other side.
Ellen rode him to the edge of the river, let him look down at it and asked him to take a step. He did without any hesitation. He didn't even try to attempt the slow spin that he usually does on his first ride. I started to do the "happy dance" in the saddle, but then I stopped abruptly. What if I startled Dante?
Then I watched Dante step very carefully but steadily across the water. I have never seen him cross so well. Truly, I was in awe. Ellen did click him because he was so good, but he ignored her and didn't stop for a treat. Crossing was more important to him, but since he was doing so well,we didn't worry about it.
He got to the other side and Ellen had a look of disbelief on her face. I had a look of great joy. We did it!
We walked for a little bit. Dante looked all around. Things have changed since the last time he was in the park back in December. There is now loads of wildflowers and the trees are starting to get leaves. I know there were some new logs, too. He did look crooked at the sign in the grass that says to stay 6 feet apart. I guess he didn't know we were supposed to do that.
Ellen asked him to trot, and away he went--in his quiet, steady manner. He was back to his old self. This could have been July--that's how good he was. We turned back at the next river crossing and headed home. To be on the safe side, we kept it at a walk. Besides, it was just such a wonderful ride, we didn't want to shorten it by going too fast, after all. The only thing left to worry about was crossing the river to get back home.
Of course, Ellen was concerned. She wanted to go first, like we always do. Her biggest concern is that he would try to run up the bank. He did that a few times early in the season last year.
Once again, he went into the water willingly and walked like a gentleman. This time, he did stop for his treat when she clicked him. When they stepped out of the water, she stopped him and clicked him for it. She gave him his treat and asked him to go forward--and he refused! At that point, she realized that running up the bank was very unlikely. She persisted in asking him to walk. When he went a few steps, she got off him and led him the rest of the way.
The ride was a total success! Everything went so well--Ellen seemed to be in shock. All of her anxieties were for nothing. There were even a couple of planes that went over us, and Dante didn't care!
She said that her nerves were really doing a number on her before the ride, but she came up with a visualization to help her shut them down. She pictured a brick wall with her anxieties on one side and her on the other side. Once she started picturing the wall, she was able to settle her nerves down.
I hope that wall is so strong that it will keep those anxieties where they belong!
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