Today Steen and I managed a milestone of sorts. We did the same ride as we did yesterday, but we did it alone.
It is 2.5 miles of looping around and between various agricultural fields. It took us exactly 45 minutes. We had one tremendous spook and two small ones (the first two before we even left familiar territory), quite a bit of agitation on Steen’s part, but he went and he came back and I stayed with him throughout. We even managed to walk on a loose rein most of the time, and only had two moments when he wouldn’t keep going forward. But I just made him flex his neck a few times and that got him moving again.
As far as I know, this is the first time Steen has ever gone so far away from familiar territory without the company of another horse. Since I figure things can only get easier for him to handle with familiarity, I feel pretty good about today’s work.
Thanks Erica. 🙂 Tammy: Yeah, it's been aNovember – worth taking advantage of. You know, it's funny. When I was younger I took all sorts of horses out alone and went on long trail rides through unfamiliar territory all the time. I think leaving the land I grew up riding through took away some of my confidence, and add that to how nervous and green Steen is… it's definitely taken me a while to feel comfortable leaving the barn alone. And though I too love riding with company, I must say riding out alone is one of my favorite things… Read more »
Hasn't this midwest weather been great for riding? My first years, I battled "fear in general" and never took a horse out by itself. Over the years, I worked thru my fears. I'm sure its a mixture of my confidence improving as well as having a horse I trusted, but when I started riding away from our barn, away from home — alone — it was "Independence Day" for me. Finally, I didn't have to rely on someone else to ride with me. As much as I prefer riding with someone else – socializing – it's nice to have that… Read more »
Grats on another good ride. 🙂