Ellen and Dante--Solo

Ellen and Dante--Solo

Could it be true?  Did I really just type those words?

Ellen hasn't ridden Dante alone in the park beyond the first river crossing since the year she bought him.  That fall, she was leading him on the street, he spooked, knocked her down and she broke her ankle.  Ever since then, her riding anxieties took over.

Of course, if you have been following her adventures, you would know that she is getting braver all the time, and this summer, in particular, she has been outstanding.

Still, there really wasn't any reason for her to go riding on the trail by herself.  Since I retired, if I know she is planning to ride, I want to be there with her.  We have too much fun together to miss out on a ride.

So what happened? Bad luck.

First, Starry came up lame.  We were hoping it was an abscess, but instead of getting worse, it started getting better.  Abscesses don't do that.  Kevin called the vet out, and she diagnosed a sprain and/or arthritis.  She gave Kevin some anti-inflammatory pills and told him that if he improved, start light riding after the farrier came out.  It was on his club foot, of course.

The following week, Cole got cut crossing the river by some fishing line.  Though it wasn't a deep or long cut, it was in a terrible spot--the back of his leg--just above his hoof.  There was a flap, and as he stepped, the wound would gape.  I called the vet, and she gave him 4 stitches, wrapped his leg and told me that he needed stall rest for 2 weeks until the stitches came out.  Even with our precautions, she still couldn't guarantee that the stitches would hold.

That left Ellen without her riding buddies.  Shari has a different schedule than she used to, so we only get to ride with Bella on Sundays.

If Ellen wanted to ride on the trail, she had to go solo.

Well, not exactly.  Since I didn't have a horse to ride, I could go with her on foot.  The river isn't too high, and it doesn't bother me to get my feet wet.  This would be the first time that Dante would be crossing the river and riding on the other side without another horse in 8 years!  Plus, I certainly couldn't keep up with them when they trot and canter.

The day after Cole got his stitches was the first day of Dante's independent rides.  Cole was not happy with the situation, and the people at the barn had to give him extra hay to quiet him down.  Starry gave us a little neigh, too, when he saw us walking down the driveway without him.

The ride was such a non-event, that there really isn't much to write about.  Most of the time, Ellen wasn't even nervous.  She trotted off to the second river where she was going to turn around.  It was there when the only scary thing happened on the whole ride.

We always see a lot of high school boys that are on the track team running down the trail in late summer and early fall.  Our horses are very accustomed to them.  They must have been told by their teachers to always stop for horses, because they do--every time.  That is, if they actually see us.

When Ellen stopped at the river to turn around, a large group of them decided to run through the river!  They made a big ruckus, and they must have looked scary to a horse, but Dante didn't care!  I'm not sure how Cole would have been.  Even Starry might have been startled.  I'm sure Bella would have been halfway home before they even got across.  Dante is a superstar.

Ellen caught up with me, and we went home.

Day one was great!