Cole is a great horse, but sometimes he is more energetic than I like. The hardest part of riding him is keeping him calm so he doesn’t take off at high speeds. It is even more complicated if I am riding with my sister because her horse, Dante, is slow. I either don't want him to get too far ahead, or I don't want him to rush up behind Dante. It isn't so much of a problem with Starry because he is a pretty fast trotter.
I previously wrote about how I am teaching Cole to slow down while trotting behind Dante so I don't have to stop and start the whole time. He is improving with leaps and bounds--by not giving me leaps and bounds. He has also slowed down enough to match Dante's speed much of the time. If Dante speeds up, Cole speeds up. If Dante slows down, so does Cole. Most of the time, we are trotting with light rein contact. Often, I am able to comfortably sit his trot.
I am really surprised how fast Cole is learning this. It seemed like it was something that was simply impossible with Cruiser. He would get closer and closer--and then take off past the leading horse.
I have found that if I talk to him, he listens so much better. He just turns his ears back to me, and doesn’t think of trotting off too fast or breaking into a gallop.
So, I have taken to singing when I ride him at a trot. If I hear a good song on my drive over to the stables, I will sing that. So often, I don’t, so I just pick out a Springsteen song. Lately, “Open all Night” has been one of my favorite riding songs. At his first trot step, it is “Well, I had the carburetor, baby, cleaned and checked,
With her lines blown out she's humming like a turbojet." (That so much sounds like Cole.)
The beat matches Cole't strides, perfectly.
I don’t sing loud, though. Just loud enough so Cole can here. I don’t want to disturb anybody else’s ride.
I love this version of it:
(It’s not the one I sing, though)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RvwKQkzSUlM
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