Three Steps Forward, Two Steps Back

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.