We had a big storm the other day. There wasn't that much rain, but the wind was really, really bad. Even so, we were still surprised at the number of branches on the trail--and 3 trees blocking it. All of the trees were small enough to step over, though not easily by a horses as short as Cole.
Ellen and I went out for a ride. We were able to negotiate all the trees and branches. On our way back, we saw Kevin heading out for his ride. We told him what we encountered, and reassured him that he could get through. After all, Starry is the largest of our horses; by far.
And he did. He only took Starry on a short ride--to the next river crossing--and turned around to go home. When he reached the log that Starry had willingly stepped over just a little time ago, he headed for the left end of it. The rest of the log was too high to step over. As he neared it, Starry saw a branch he could grab and eat. That broke their momentum--and then Starry decided it was impossible to cross the log. It didn't matter that he crossed it going the other direction. It didn't matter that he was going towards home. He didn't act frightened--he just felt he couldn't do it.
Kevin asked and asked to no avail. Finally, he got off--thinking Starry would follow him. That didn't work, either. He looked for a way to get around the log, but the shrubbery was too thick and the footing too swampy. He had to turn around and go away from home.
The whole time, he kept looking for a good way to get out to the street, but he didn't find any until he reached the river crossing. He then rode out to the street to the paved bike path. He had no choice but to ride along it to get home. Wherever he could, he rode on the grass. One bike passed him. Once, Starry tried to trot on the paved path when Kevin tried to get him over to the grass. Other than that, it was uneventful.
Finally, he reached a spot where he could cut back to the trail on the other side of the log.
The next day, Cole and I went with them on a ride. I was willing to turn at the log, but Kevin thought Starry would follow Cole over it. We had no trouble stepping over it on the way out, and we had a terrific ride.
On the way home, Kevin wanted to try, first. He had stopped by earlier in the day and cut the branch that originally distracted Starry. He was hoping with that gone; the problem would be gone, too.
It didn't work. Starry still refused to step over the log. After a number of attempts, I brought Cole up to it to lure Starry across. The very thing I feared happened. Since Cole saw Starry refuse, he did, too. I dismounted, and Cole was happy to follow me over it.
Starry would still not cooperate. Kevin dismounted to lead him--but Starry wouldn't follow him across, either. Kevin asked me to come back with him so we could go home on the bike path. Poor, little Cole. He had to step over the log that was way too tall for him--but not too tall for the hulking behemoth, Starry, once again.
He did, and we were on our way. We couldn't trot because Kevin needed a mounting block. There is one at the river crossing. He mounted, and we cut over to the paved bike path.
I was nervous about it because Cole's horse shoes were worn smooth. That meant he could slip very easily. Years ago, when I first started riding Cruiser on the trail, he spooked, ran onto the bike trail and slipped. He regained his balance, but I tumbled to the ground. With that in my mind, we tentatively followed Starry on the bike path. My other concern was motorcycles. The bike path is very close to the street.
It all went well. There was one loud vehicle that I stopped Cole for as it passed. Two bikes passed us, too, but we saw them before they could startle the horses.
The next day, Kevin didn't join Ellen and me. He went the other way on the trail. When we reached the log, Cole went over, first. Dante decided he wasn't going over it. He touched it, rubbed his face on it, looked for the branch that he tried to eat on the last ride and looked pretty. Ellen turned him away and tried again. This time, he stepped right over it. We continued on our merry way.
When we got back to the log on the way home, there was Starry and Kevin waiting for us on the other side. He wasn't even going to try. Dante marched right over; followed by Cole. The 3 of us had a lovely ride home.
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