Trifecta Hits the Trails

 Trifecta Hits the Trails

We have continued to bring Trifecta in the park.  Ellen has been walking along with us.  The main problems I have been having with him is rushing towards home--which makes it really tough for Ellen to keep up.  I really don't mind the fast walk, but he kept trying to trot.  

I don't know how many rides we went on like this, but finally it occurred to me what must be done.  I needed to get him tired.  The next time I took him out, once I got to the part of the trail that is good for trotting, I left Ellen behind and trotted all the way out to the second river crossing.  I did stop a few times to make sure I still had brakes, but we started right back up.  We turned at the second river and walked back to catch up with Ellen.  After all that, he was happy to just walk home.  The problem was solved.

This meant that it was time for Trifeca Tuesdays to begin again.  We were doing them last fall.  That is where he goes on the primary ride with one of the other horses.

For our first Tuesday, we chose Dante.  There are some complications when we ride these two together.  First of all, they are best friends--which means that Trifecta always wants to play with him.  The second problem is that Dante is much slower than Trifecta.

We started down the hill with Trifecta in the lead and practiced standing and waiting for Dante.  We got to the river first, so I had him start crossing.  When we were about 5 feet from the other side, he just stopped and refused to go any further.  He even took a few backward steps!  I think it might have been because he realized Dante was back there, and he was leaving him.  I convinced him to get out of the water and go up the bank.  While we waited for Dante to catch up, he decided, once again, that he wanted to go to the left instead of to the right.  We ended up circling...Sigh...

When Ellen made it across, I was able to get him to follow Dante in the right direction.  He still tried to turn around a few times even with Dante in the lead.  I confess I was getting a little frustrated.  Since he likes to walk so fast, I knew it would be better if Trifecta was in the lead, but whenever I tried to pass, I could feel his hindquarters swing towards Dante.  This scared both Dante and Ellen.  We have spent a lot of time practicing this in the arena, and he was getting so much better, but the excitement of being out on the trail caused the behavior to return.  Sigh...

When we got to a wider part of the trail, I was able to pass Dante peacefully.  (I have to use a lot of leg on the Dante side.)  That only worked for a few minutes when we came across a person who was on her phone and walking her dog at the same time.  Since she wasn't paying attention, the dog tried to come right up to us.  She pulled him in only to have him do it again.  I didn't think that Trifecta would kick the dog.  My worry was that he would lose his momentum and want to turn around again.  I was right.  We got stuck.  Ellen explained kindly to the woman that her dog's safety was at risk if he got too close to a horse and then came to help us.  Dante took the lead again and Trifecta was on the move.

And then things just got better.  I had Trifecta pass Dante, and this time my leg worked.  We did some trotting, stopped to talk to friends and did more trotting.  We got to the second river, waited for Ellen and Dante to catch up and started our walk home.  Trifecta walked fast but steady.  It didn't take long before I lost Dante.  They would drop back, trot for a while, drop back and trot again.  Ellen told me she actually ended up doing a lot of trotting.  We just kept walking.  The woman with the dog was coming our way, and this time she pulled him off the trail and held him still; which made me smile and give her a big "Thank you!"  When we saw our friends again, we stopped to chat.  That is when Ellen and Dante caught up with us for real.  They dropped back by the time I got to the river to cross to go home, so we just went right across and waited on the other side.  As we went up the hill, we practiced waiting for Dante again.  

Once we got past the first part of the ride where he was being sticky, it turned out to be a terrific ride.  Trifecta Tuesdays have begun!

Henry Starts Training

  Henry Starts Training

It was time.  Of course, I started training Henry on Day one, as we all do when we get a horse.  Everything we do is training.  We worked on leading.  I led him all around the property and out to the street.  I was glad to see that he was as good with traffic as his previous owner assured me he was. 

Recently, I introduced him to a bit less bridle.  I am not a bitless bridle purist, but our horses have done just as well bitless as with a bit, and I had a problem.  I didn't have any other bridles.  Cole has one.  Trifecta is using Ranger's old bitless bridle.  I started using it over the winter and he not only doing well in it, but he looks pretty in the red and green biothane.  I am still using Cruiser's old synthetic bridle on Trifecta when we go on the trail.  I know that Ellen doesn't have anything small enough to fit Henry, so I got Cole's old bitless and tried that on him and it fits really nice.  It is cob size because Cole is little.  (Don't tell him that.)  I certainly don't want to buy a new bridle for a growing horse.  Once I  know how large he will get, I will get him a new bridle all his own and a bit that fits him.

Since I was sure that this was a new piece of equipment for him, I started to use it to go on his walkabouts.  By putting one rein in each hand and holding the reins under his head, I could simulate steering the bitless.  He seemed a little puzzled at first, but then he caught on and we could walk in all sorts of figures.  

He got to meet all of our horses.  He is the first horse I ever found that Cole really likes.  That just makes me smile each time I think of it.  He learned that he should be respectful with Cole, play with Dante and cuddle with Starry.  It was a little tricky with Trifecta the first few times because Trifecta can be way over the top in his demands to play.  The first couple sessions had to be ended early, but after that, each session got a little better.

The morning that Henry's real training started, we had him out with Trifecta first as we cleaned the stalls.  I checked on them and saw Henry trotting by; followed by Trifecta.  They stopped at the gate for a few moments and Henry took off at a canter.  Trifecta was thrilled that he had someone to run with, and he immediately followed.  They kept going around and around.  Henry's canter got faster and faster as he started lengthening his strides.  Before we knew it, Trifecta had to work to keep up with him.  They switched directions a few times and kept going.  That is when I decided it would be a perfect day to start training.  Ellen agreed.

We brought him back in and let him take a break.  I put the surcingle and the bridle on him and brought him out.  After leading him around a little bit, I had Ellen hold him as I hooked up the long reins.  Ellen led him at first, and he was fine.  This was no surprise since he had some harness training in his old home.  I told her to unhook him, and she continued to walk with him as I ground drove him around the arena.  We went both ways, crossed the diagonal a few times and did some "whoas."  He did very well, so we called it quits after about 10 minutes.  

I was not surprised that he was so good, but it still made me very happy.  We won't be working him hard or often--just when we have some extra time to play around.  I am in no hurry because I won't be riding him until spring.  It was just nice to get started.