Time for the Trail for Tri
We had a lousy winter, and we barely took Starry, Dante and Cole on the trail. It was very cold and icy. The ice was the worst. It didn't only apply to the frozen river, but the trails themselves were very icy. Much of the time, we couldn't even get the horses down the driveway because it was too icy. Even when the driveway, trail and river thawed out, there was a huge pile of ice chunks blocking our access to the river crossing for a few weeks.
I just gave up with Trifecta in the fall and worked with him in the indoor arena. Once things got better, I started riding him in the outdoor arena and reviewing traffic by standing at the end of the driveway.
A few weeks ago, I took him on one trip down the hill to the river. He wasn't too bad. Basically, he was right about where he left off last fall. That gave me a lot of hope--and then the rain began. For a few more weeks, it was too high to cross it with him. It did get low enough for Cole, but I don't want to push my luck with Trifecta on a higher river for a while. We just stayed up at the barn.
Finally, the river was very low and clear--perfect for crossing with Trifecta. Ellen and I rode out on a trail ride first with Cole and Dante. When I got back, Kevin was at the barn. He offered to go with us on Starry. How could I say no?
I tacked Tri up and met Kevin out by the driveway. Trifecta knew what was happening, and he got very excited--too excited. All of our horses have always really enjoyed going on trail rides--but Trifecta takes it to an extreme. He is like a dog who knows he is going to go on a walk. He marched right past the Starry and headed down the driveway; nearly dragging me. As I led him down the street, he could barely contain himself--and then he saw the other horses down the street; heading our way. That was the last straw. The excitement level went through the roof.
We met the other horses at the beginning of the trail. I let them ride off until they were out of sight and gave Tri time to unwind. He did a little bit. I mounted and started our ride. Ellen was walking next to us and Starry was behind us. After a few steps, I checked the brakes--and I didn't have any at all. I needed to install the brakes before we did anything else. We did walk/whoa/walk/whoa transitions. I clicked him for stopping, and soon his brakes were much better. I then started clicking him for just walking.
I told Ellen and Kevin we weren't going to cross the river. My reasons were multiple. First, he was so hyper, I feared he would cross the river too quickly and possibly fall. The bottom of that river crossing is very slippery and uneven. My brakes weren't good enough to slow him down. My second reason was that he would be aware of the other horses just ahead of him and might obsess on them. Lastly, I thought that riding him up and down the hill a few times would be the best way to get him to calm down. We call it "demoralization."
Ellen breathed a sigh of relief when I told her of my decision. Kevin later told me that he agreed, too. Trifecta would have to wait for another day to cross the river.
At the end of the trail, we turned around to head back up. Immediately, Trifecta improved. Once he realized he wasn't crossing and following the other horses, he relaxed and started to listen to me. He is smart enough to know that he is better off not rushing up the hill. On the steep parts of the slope, he remember he is supposed to lower his naturally high head and use it as a fulcrum to aid him up the hill. (Yes, we actually taught him that last summer. He has a head down command. Once he learned it was easier, he started to do it all the time.)
He still walked faster than Starry, so we had to stop and let Starry catch up multiple times. That is a great thing for a horse to learn, so we didn't mind waiting.
We got to our turnaround spot and we headed back down the hill. He was a whole different horse from the first time. I was able to stop him easily, and he walked a more reasonable speed. He was just so much better! We still had to wait for Starry. I asked Ellen if she was up to a third trip on the hill, and she agreed. On the third trip, he was just wonderful.
Overall, he wasn't that bad, just so very, very excited in the beginning. He didn't do anything dangerous, and he really seemed to have fun. I am so looking forward to our future rides.
