Good Ride? A lesson learned on a "rough day".

My life has changed some since beginning a new job.  A reduction in riding time seemed in my future, but, fortunately, a good friend with similar riding abilities has been catching a few rides on The Lady and her conditioning program has continued. 

Today was a perfect day for a trail ride.  Warm, but not too hot.  Little humidity.  Clear, deep blue skies with decorative puffy clouds.  Visibility, when we are out of the woods, was exceptional.  The Lady is plenty fit enough for the planned ride.  This is going to be THE best ride of the summer for me so far!

While I completely understand that the mud coating is one of a horse’s ways (usually pretty effective) to keep the flies away, it can make summer grooming a longish task when it has to begin with a full body bath.  This summer day, when I arrived at the barn, I learned just how lucky I would be because my mare was actually pretty clean!  Ole’ Mud Ball had lived through the last few dry days by rolling off the caked mud I usually found all over her body.  Layers of dry dirt and a short summer coat are really pretty simple to clean up.  A quick groom with the curry, followed by the stiff brush, then the medium brush, and then a nice finish brush and The Lady gleamed like a copper penny. 

It also became important for me to remember to thank my friend for leaving my saddle and bridle really, really clean.  That break meant that I could actually have even more time in the saddle on this perfect day.  Bless her! Saddle up went well.  It actually felt like my mare and I were really a team.  Memories of the old days (two months ago before beginning this new job) when I really had time to spend with her.  Walked over to the mounting block and The Lady stood like a rock while I settled into the saddle. 

We stood a moment to be sure we were both comfortable and then walked off at a nice pace.  After telling a couple of folks who would be at the barn for a while where we were going, off we went.  It felt SO good to be in the saddle that I could actually feel the cares the world vanishing. A perfect day.  A perfect riding companion.  What more could I ask?

We walked out of the immediate barn area and came to the creek bridge we have crossed almost every time we have ridden out in the last year and a half.  When The Lady performed one of her infamous fast spook spin turns, it really caught me off guard, but I was decently seated and did not loose my stirrups.  After my surprise, I began to pay more attention to my mare and less to the beauty of the day and my desire to trail ride.  Perhaps this was not going to be the “perfect trail ride” I envisioned.

To make a long story very short, my mare, The Lady Nostalgia que ce, seemed to have arbitrarily decided that she was not a twenty-five year old exceptionally seasoned trail horse, but rather a green broke three-year old.  Fortunately for both of us, The Lady’s rider had learned a few things during the last twenty-three years.  It also helped that when I got over my surprise, I wanted this to be a good ride for both of us.  Remaining calm and working through any number of unexpected spooks was not what I had envisioned for this day, but I really did manage to pull it off.  To Mare’s credit, she never did anything really major like true bucking or double spins.  I like to think that she must have learned years earlier that those maneuvers were a lot of work and (sometimes) did not even work.  I was still determined that this was going to be a good ride for both of us. 

Before we had gone a quarter mile from the barn, she had pulled one stunt or another at the green gate, the water trough, the feed buckets for the field horses (which are always in the same place), the red gate, and the post that holds the gates open.  This was becoming really a test of my patience and not very much fun.  Reacting and considering future antics were becoming routine – and not a good one for a “good day’s trail ride.” 

Between antics, I started thinking about what this was all about.  Obviously, something was up in her mind that I simply did not understand.  Looking around became easy when she tried her infamous spin turn move three times in a row.  I really did not see anything that could be the cause.  The gentle wind was making the grasses and weeds move in the wind, but – get real – The Lady is a seasoned trail horse.  The wind moving the grass could not possibly be the problem.  There where a number of birds flushing as we approached, but nothing large or unusual. The dreaded round bales had been removed from all of the fields as far as my eye could see – which also meant that “terrible white tractor” that moved the bales was also gone.  There was no farmer-originated fieldwork going on anywhere.  There were no deer visible in the area.  I was totally puzzled as to the cause of where my mare’s mind was. 

We worked it out.  After riding over hill and dale for just over an hour and getting some semblance of “enjoying” a “perfect” ride together, we were back at the barn.  I was still puzzled by The Lady’s behavior, but figured that it was just a “horse thing” and was not really upset about anything that happened. After all, this was my day for a perfect trail ride.

As we approached the barn, I stopped her to visit with a fellow boarder.  We talked for some time and all I wanted was The Lady to stand quietly while I remained in the saddle.  It was one of those visits that, if grass had been available, I would even have let her graze while I visited.  Prancing, dancing, moving, etc. meant that I had to keep focus on my mare rather than simply enjoy the visit.  Even my fellow boarder commented that she really seemed wound up today. 

Then I heard it – the moo of a cow.  When I gave The Lady her head, she turned to stare across the road. Cows!  I should have known.  The Lady has been “difficult” about cows since a trip fifteen years ago to work cattle.  She excelled at working cattle, which was no real surprise because Paso Fino horses in Puerto Rico and Columbia (where the breed originated) are the equivalent of our Quarter Horses when it comes to working cattle. However, ever since then, she is a challenge to ride when cattle are around.  Obviously, she was aware of the cows by sound and smell during the first portion of our ride and when we were back at the barn long before I was.  Oh, well.  At least I understood what the problem was because every incident of “bad” behavior was to turn and face where she knew – and I did not –where the cattle were. A perfect ride?  It really was because I learned something of value.  That thought process was to remember to try to think like a horse.  Prey versus predator, etc., etc. 

Sure fine.  I was only dealing when one horse that I thought I understood very well.  Perhaps I do because I was able to get to the bottom of the day’s problem, but that certainly does not mean that I understand horses.  It is questionable if I really understand even The Lady, but I was able to get to the bottom of the problem for that day at least.  The cows will be in that field for at least the remainder of the summer.  That field is across the street from the barn.  Oh well….

Happy, and understanding, trails to all of you!