Dante High-tailing it Away!

Ellen Gets an Award

The “Award for Staying in the Saddle” in September certainly doesn’t go to me.  Ellen will get the award this month.

Ellen, Kevin and I were out for a ride.  We were nearing the spot that we planned to turn to go home when we saw a man we have known from the trails for years.  We don’t remember his name, but his dog’s name is Daisy. Daisy is one of those sweet dogs who never gives us any trouble.  She doesn’t need to be on a leash. She will just sit and wait for us to go by.

We stopped to chat for a few minutes.  Then, he went on our way and we went on ours.  We didn’t get very far when I saw Dante’s head go straight up in the air.  He started panicking. All I saw was him stepping backwards into the woods behind him.  I think that is when he decided to spin towards us. All I knew is that Cole decided to spin and take off.  Starry was in between us, and he half-heartedly followed Cole. Dante saw the commotion going on with us--and spun the opposite way.  Poor Ellen got spun to the left--then spun to the right.

I didn’t have much problem stopping Cole within a few strides.  I quickly looked back and saw Ellen leaning over Dante’s neck. She was hanging on with all her might--and she did it!  Dante stopped, Ellen readjusted herself and all was well again.

We then found out what happened.  There was a man just wandering through the woods; picking up garbage.  Dante must have thought he was a bear. The man startled Dante, Dante startled Cole, Cole terrified Dante and Starry never did figure out what was going on.  The poor man, when he realized what happened, felt so bad. We told him not to worry about it. That’s just how horses can be.

So Ellen got the award for staying on during a double-spin spook.