It's is spring and time to get the horses on the trail--and it's time for Ellen's anxieties to return.
Ellen is a great rider, and she has a great horse. Both of them love to go trail riding, but Ellen has a bunch of anxieties that like to go with them. This year, her only real anxiety is the river. She has crossed that river, literally, hundreds of times, and Dante is a decent river crosser. Unfortunately, last year she had a bad experience. Towards the very end of the riding season, she tried to cross it when it was a little on the high side--but totally crossable. I know, because I crossed it first, and my horse is short. When she got to the edge of the river, she panicked. She just couldn't bring herself to cross. Instead, she turned and went home.
The next time she went to cross the river, Dante decided he would just turn and go home. She worked him through the problem, and then had a nice ride after that. The problem was, the river was too high to cross for several weeks after that, and she lost her nerve. That was it for the year.
Ellen had all winter to let her anxiety grow to a humongous, almost insurmountable size. She didn't even think she could cross on Cole; or even Starry; who is our most reliable river crosser. Every time I thought she might go out for a ride, she had a reason to postpone it. I was truly starting to think I was going to have a second trail horse, this year. (In a way, I kinda liked that idea, but I would rather ride with Ellen and Dante than just Dante.)
One day, the weather was warm and the river was low. She had no good excuse. She still didn't want to go on the trail, and it took a lot of convincing on my part to get her to go--but she only wanted Cole.
Anyone who reads about our adventures knows how ironic that is. Cole is, by far, the most challenging horse that we ever had. He can be very reliable, but he also loves to go very, very fast. He is the fastest horse I ever rode. He has nearly as fast a trot as Ranger and Cruiser--and a super fast gallop. That isn't so bad, since I trained him to listen to slowing down cues, but he can be intimidating. His biggest flaw is random "Cole Bursts." That is when he just jumps up and takes off in a joyful manner. You have to be on your toes to stop him before he gets too fast or disrupts the other horses.
Cole doesn't spook much, but Dante spooks even less. Dante has slower, steadier gaits, too. I don't know if he ever just burst for no reason. He is just a plain old, reliable pony.
And Ellen feels safer on Cole.
Cole has always, always taken good care of Ellen.
We headed out on our ride. Since Dante hadn't been on the newly repaired hill, I led him down it to be on the safe side. He was fine. In typical Dante fashion, he just looked around at everything. He is quite the sight seer.
Ellen mounted at the mounting block at the bottom of the hill and rode Cole down the bank. Cole must have felt Ellen's nervousness, because when he got to the edge, he froze. He said that Ellen was too afraid to cross the river, and he wasn't going to make her.
I was worried that Dante would do his "slow spin" at the edge of the river. He does that every year the first time crossing. I know, because I always end up riding him the first time across. Much to my surprise, Dante marched down the river bank and stepped right into the water! He crossed carefully, and then we waited for Cole on the other side.
And waited. And waited. Cole wasn't going to cross. He never refuses to cross for me, so the only reason he could be balking had to be because of Ellen. She said she was so scared that she was shaking. The water was well below the horses knees--she is definitely having some form of cognitive dissonance. She said it is like someone hijacked her brain. She knows the river isn't too high to cross, but her brain is out of control.
Ellen didn't give up, and Cole finally carefully crossed. On the other side of the river, we walked and then did a little bit of trotting. Dante was so good--it was like he never had the winter off. I mean, he was perfect! That is incredible for his first time, out. We went about 10 minutes, turned around and walked home.
It was an amazing ride. I'm starting to think I wouldn't mind Dante as my second trail horse...
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