One Horsemanship for all.: Four More Rides of Growth

Last weekend I rode Drifter on Saturday and Sunday. This weekend I did the same. His "marathon" is in seven weeks, so it would be in our best interest to build some endurance.

Last Saturday was his second trail ride and 14th ever ride. Jenn and I were cutting it close, as when we arrived, Kathy and Sis were on their horses. I barely got any groundwork done and hopped on so we could head over to Monica's to get her and Bullet. While at Monica's, Drifter needed some work. It was a new place with new smells and monsters.

He doesn't normally look like this.

But once we all rode out, the rest of the ride was pretty uneventful. He really only had a few spooks and, even though his spooks are big, they're fairly easy to rein in and he comes right back to reality when reassured.

Jenn & Jake

Jake wanted to move to Newport Beach with Jenn.

On Sunday, Drifter was so tired, he was basically a grandma-safe horse. Nothing alarmed him. Not even Kathy's six-month old puppy bounding through the sagebrush and darting around the trail.

OK, so this was also taken on Saturday, but he looked like this all day Sunday.

Yesterday, I threw down 11 miles in the morning (and finally felt great about running again) and immediately hooked up the trailer to go for a ride. Kathy on Chic, Lisa on Oakey the mule, and I on Drifter rode over to Monica's to pick up Bullet, to be ponied, while Monica rode Toy.

The ride was great. We climbed a pretty steep hill, rode along a fire road, dropped down into the National Forest, and looped back toward home. All went well until we came upon a couple who were wenching a tractor onto a flatbed trailer. They were parked across the road on which we were riding, so we had to ride around them and onto their property.

The couple kindly brought to our attention that there was a cable laying across the dirt driveway that we had to ride across. The mule and Kathy's two horses crossed it fine.

As Monica and Toy walked over the cable, Toy's back toe dragged across the cable. This, of course, startled him and as he lunged forward causing the cable to fly up, flipping a connected metal "No Trespassing" sign into the air.

Toy spun.

Drifter spun with full force and intent to head to Nevada.

Although startled, I impulsively reached to stop him with one rein, as has been ingrained in my brain as the emergency brake to save all wrecks.

But in the midst of a terrified horse tornado, out of the corner of my eye, I saw impending doom.

A barbed wire fence directly in the path of our escape route. I envisioned the two of us entangled in that deathtrap...and a one-rein stop at that moment would have sent his hindquarters and my midsection straight into it. Tachycardia raged in my chest as adrenaline surged through my body and I veered Drifter slightly away from the property line in order to finally engage the one-rein stop.

As the dust cleared, I looked down, envisioning entrails strewn across the hillside, but was relieved that there was no blood. We lived to see another ride.

[Google horse barbed wire injuries...I dare you.]

I dismounted and walked Drifter across the cable. He cautiously crossed, but trusted my lead. My core was shaking so violently (I was cold before the spook, and I felt frozen afterwards) that I continued to walk down the road a while before getting back on.

Today, I've laid low. Worked on a colt starting DVD for Paul and helped Travis put up more fence. When Travis left to watch the Super Bowl, I went to the safety of my backyard arena and quietly worked with Drifter, inspired by the video I am editing.

So, today, ride 17 in seven months, I asked Drifter to canter for the first time. He seemed as apprehensive as I was about going there, but then we both relaxed and let it happen.