Ellen's Second Trail Ride of the Year

 

Ellen's Second Trail Ride of the Year

Well, not really.  We aren't counting the trail rides that she did back in January after the river froze.  This was her second ride after the big river crossing ride two days before.

Once again, Kevin and Starry joined us.  It was a chilly morning, but the sun was peaking out every now and then.  We all marched down to the river, and all three horses ended up at the river's edge.  Cole and Starry wanted to drink.  Ellen decided that she just wanted Dante to cross--and he did!  It was so uneventful.  Starry and Cole followed them, and we headed out for our ride.

On this ride, she didn't mind if Cole took the lead for a while so he could stretch out at the trot--something he can't do when he follows Dante.  When we got pretty far ahead of them, we did a little cantering, too.  Then, we waited for everybody to catch up.  It didn't take long because Ellen cantered Dante, too.

What?  Cantered him on his second trail ride of spring?  Who is this person who looks like my sister?  We let her take the lead for the last section of the trail.  I followed at a distance, and Starry was behind me.  They trotted off, and then I saw it with my own eyes--she cantered him two more times.  He did great, too.  Cole ended up being able to stretch out at the trot again.

We turned around at the second river crossing.  Ellen isn't quite ready for that.  On the way home, we did more walking than trotting, but it didn't matter what we did, Ellen and Dante did it well.

She said that she was near zero anxiety on this ride--which is something she doesn't typically say until she has been on the trail for a month or so.  It is so wonderful that she is feeling this confident this early in the year.  Actually, she has never even been across the river with Dante this early before.  

We couldn't wait until the next time...

And then it started to rain and rain...