Spring Silliness, Again

Finally, I was able to get Mingo out on the trail.  We have had such a rough winter-not so much with cold and snow.  I can deal with that.  The problem has been ice.  I just don't like to risk the horses on an icy driveway.

I knew he would be hyper the first few times.  For as quiet a horse that Mingo is, he can't resist the excitement of getting on the trail after a long break-and the excitement of going back home.  The first time I took him out in March, the footing was a very slippery and snowy.  It meant walking only, which wasn't a bad idea  anyway on the first time out.  We walked slowly down the hill to the frozen river, turned around and walked quickly back up.  Not too bad. 

We turned around and walked slowly down, again started back up.  At the foot of the hill, he tends to misbehave.  It is the steepest part of the hill.  I think he has the idea that it is best to charge up it.  Sure enough, he tucked his head, grunted and did one of the classic huge Mingo bucks that he is so famous for.  They make me look like such an accomplished rider.  Honestly, they are very easy to ride because they are so straight and clean.  His buck feels no different than a large canter leap.

From then on, he kept trying to trot.  It was the last thing I wanted since it was so slippery.  I knew that if I did trot him one trip up the hill, it would settle him right down for the rest of the ride, but I just didn't think it was safe.  Usually, in a situation like this, I would turn him around and make him go back down the hill.  I did this a few times, but with all the snow, I was unsure where the trail edge ended and where the drainage ditch that runs alongside the trail began.  I used an alternate technique.  I would ask him to walk a few steps and then ask him to stop and stand-hopefully before he started to trot.  In the beginning, I had trouble, but eventually, I was able to stop him before he started trotting.

It took a lot longer to get to the top of the hill, but by that time, he was walking.  We went home.

The following weekend, we had a huge, huge snowstorm, so trail riding was out.  Something else happened that weekend-daylight savings.  I now had time to ride on the trail in the evenings after work. 

As soon as the snow melted enough to be able to negotiate the trails, I took Mingo out for a trip down the hill for an evening ride.  Since the snow was melting, it was very slippery, so I had to stay at a walk.  Once again, on the way home, Mingo disagreed with me.  I sighed.  As we headed up the hill, he kept trying to trot, so I started to work on walk/halt transitions.  It worked much faster this time.  Halfway up the hill, he decided walking was a better idea.  I must confess I was a little nervous when we got to the herd of deer just off to the side of the trail.  In his mood, one sudden move from them would make him go flying.  I did more transitions-trying not to startle the deer, and he was fine. 

When we got nearly to the end by the street, he started trotting.  No way was he going to get away with that.  We turned around and went back down the hill.  (Actually, I planned to do it again, anyway.)  We didn't go as far as the deer herd, though.  Rather, we turned around and headed back up.

He tried to trot again at the top, so I decided to just work the top of the trail for a bit-I wanted to ride longer, so it worked out fine for me.  Finally, he did that section of the trail perfect, and we went home. 

Springtime is a rough time for all of our horses.  I can't ride Cruiser in the snow because the vet wants him to wear eggbar shoes to support his bowed tendon, but when I get him out, I'm sure I will be experiencing a similar situation with him.  I know Ellen has gone through it with Ranger in the last few weeks.  It didn't help her when a huge tree branch fell right behind Ranger.  The horses will be even worse when we start riding them together.

I honestly think that one of the reasons we have more problems than most people is because we like to ride our horses fast.  If we walked them all the time, and that is all they knew, they wouldn't get so excited.  Since we trot and canter so much-which is no problem at all once they settle down-they anticipate going faster-and love it.  This is a small price to pay for all those wonderful canters down the trail that we get the rest of the year.