After Tux bucked me off, I was pretty sore. I rode
Cheese Burger as planned the night it happened. A combination of pride and
adrenaline kept me going. The next day though I was stiff and sore, real sore!
I tr4ied to walk with a friend for my usual Tuesday morning walk and had to
almost stop when we came to a downhill. Up and level were slow and painful but
I could manage. A gentle downhill was excruciating and my left hip didn’t want
to work well at all. As the week progressed, some dandy bruises filled in. I
started to have some doubts about whether or not this was such a good idea,
whether or not I could accomplish what I had so impulsively committed to.
I kept most of the pain and all of
the doubts from Jessica. I’ve been injured before. I know I heal… eventually
and I know that right after an injury is not the time to make snap decisions so
I kept my mouth shut. Meanwhile, Jessica rode Tuxedo and I rode CB. She even
put her younger brother up on Tux one day while I rode CB. She rode Tux to the
trail head while Johann hiked along beside and then let him ride while she
walked along and did some much needed brush trimming on our trails. CB has the
occasional drama fit too. She’s not mean but she can be flighty and many things
spook her. Right at the start she was acting up as soon as I mounted and my
first thought was, “Great! The ‘safe’ horse is gonna toss me!” I was warier
though after my get-off from Tuxedo. I kept on her and anticipated issues as
well as I could and for the most part we did OK.
There was one incident where Tuxedo
stumbled a bit while we were ahead of him. No biggy for Tux but he’s a big guy
and when he puts his foot down hard the ground thunders. CB panicked,
absolutely positive that a giant monster was attacking her and she bolted up
the trail. But my horse sense was starting to kick in now. The years of riding
as a kid starting to come back so I leaned into her lunge, gripped her with my
legs and once we were over the crest of the small hill on the trail I hauled
her head around (Thank you Jessica for that tip!) and she stopped. I didn’t
yell or shout because she was already spooked. We stopped and I let her settle
down while we waited for Jess and Johann to catch up.
They came over the hill and Jessica
had a very worried expression on her face.
“You really had me worried! I
thought that I would find you hanging from a tree limb. You didn’t say
anything.”
I explained that there was no need
and besides, I thought that it would only make things worse. CB and I were OK,
really. I felt better about that incident too. I felt like I was getting back
into my groove, moving with the horse and doing the right thing and not the
sack of potatoes thing. Meanwhile, Jess said that I took 2 years off her life.
Well, she’s young. She has years to spare:-)
Later on, we’d done the trail loop
and were riding the last mile down the rode to the pasture. CB has a quick walk
and Jess said just let her step out as long as she didn’t trot. She wanted
going-back-to-the-barn to be deliberate with the pace determined by the rider
and not a mad dash dictated by the horse. We swung along and were soon out of
sight of Jessica, Johann and Tuxedo behind us on the road.
Later, in the pasture, Jessica told
me that was the first time she’d ever let CB get out of her sight with someone
else on her.
“I was like a nervous Mom watching
her daughter go out to her first prom!” she gushed. Too bad her ‘daughter’ had
such an old, ugly date! I was pleased and more than a little flattered that
Jess trusted me on CB to that extent though.
Three weeks past and most of my
aches and pains receded. Time to get back on Tuxedo. I still have lingering
doubts but I mount up anyway. We have one ride with no incident. The next ride
is a long one to Roche Harbor. At Roche we look for a place to park the horses
so we can get lunch and we are on a narrow trail 6’ above the side road going
towards the restaurant. Suddenly we come to a dead end and the only way out is
to back up. I haven’t worked with Tux on backing but he goes straight back
about 10’ without a misstep. Then he spins in less than his length and heads up
the hill with no problem. Jessica dismounts and leads CB up a very steep bank
to a higher road. The bank has large, loose, moss covered stones and looks to
be over 45 degrees. It was a scramble for Jess to walk it.
“Should I get off and lead him up?”
I ask.
“No, I think he’s good for it.” She
replies.
Damned if he wasn’t. His first step
landed his front feet in a deep hole. Many horses panic in that situation. Tux
just paused, looked down and pulled his feet out carefully, one by one. Then he
revved up those powerful hind legs and made the top of the bank in two huge
lunges. At the top, he wasn’t nervous or winded. He reached out, grabbed a
mouthful of grass and looked back at me as if to say, “Where to now Boss?”
I was starting to gain some
confidence in him, thinking that the Crest Trail ride was a doable goal but
then the title of this essay also mentioned some backward steps as well as
forward steps. Those occurred in the next ride.
A short loop, only about 5 miles.
We headed up the road and at the transition from paved to gravel, he balked.
I’d kick him and try to get him to advance and all it did was make him back up
harder. Jessica gave me some pointers and I kept at it and after about 5
minutes of negotiations, he started up the road. There was another incident
farther up the trail and a final one l later. Each took about 5 minutes to
resolve and worse, they resulted in him backing and turning over a wide area.
This would not work on the Pacific Crest Trail! There are narrow sections of
the trail with drop offs that are hundreds of feet to the bottom. What would we
do if he refused to cross a river of balked at a stream on a steep section?
Next ride we do a longer loop and
take the horses up the steep sections of the trails. We put Tux in back with
the idea that alternating him to the front will be better than fighting with
him to be in front every time. We eventually want both horses to be able to
take the lead or go off on their own with either of us riding. In case of an
accident on the trail, we need flexibility of mounts! We do trails on the old
DNR land and Tuxedo is a trooper on the steep, rocky sections, the switchbacks,
and the narrow places between trees. He was a star. Sure-footed and courageous,
not spooked by anything, we finished the ride with him tired but content.
Unsaddled, at the end of the day, he didn’t run off. He hung around, looking
for treats, socializing with us. In the middle of the Cascade Range this
behavior will be a very good thing!
The next ride, it was his turn to
lead. At the gravel transition I anticipated a balk so I kept at him and
encouraged him along. On the trail he hesitated two more times but both were
resolved in seconds, not minutes. This is partly a result of me engaging more
positively but also a result of Tuxedo being a quick study.
So where does this leave me? My
doubts are fading with the residual stiffness from the drama lesson in June. I
have a healthy respect for Tuxedo but also a real growing confidence in his
ability. He’s shown that he’s willing to learn and that he has many, many
sterling traits for an outstanding trail horse. He’s immensely strong and is
surefooted. He doesn’t spook or bolt. He seems to genuinely like the challenge
of the rides. He likes having a job and I think that job will be carrying me
into the mountains.
