The water crossing of doom

Maren was taking forever getting Chinook ready so I lunged Mag in the outdoor on the absolutely perfect sand footing. I will miss it so much! He was fine until I asked for a canter where he started bolting, bucking, and kicking at his saddle. I think he might have been upset because I had a camera attached to this front of the saddle. A camera. A camera? Was that it?

I let him go, if he's going to kick and buck, he can work hard. Finally I talked him down and he was OK. I'm amazed that after 4 months of lunging he still flips out from time to time. Also, he would not come down to a walk when I asked, for some reason. That never happens.

After our lunging fail I was not feeling too great about going out, especially since it's the warmest, sunniest Sunday of the year so far. Shorts weather! Everyone is going to be enjoying the woods, we won't have a moment of peace.

Maren asked me what I wanted to do and I said, "I want to ride in the woods with no pedestrians, bikes, dogs, or strollers." She said, "This is great training, this is the perfect day." *sigh*

So I did some leading before I rode. Before we could even leave the barn there was a family with stroller and child and a big Tinker horse too. I complained, "Right away, a stroller!"

But no matter how many dogs and horses and bikes we saw, Mag remained calm.

Then we came to the tiny creek that he normally drinks from before crossing it and he refused to cross it for the first time. I said, "Normally he goes through without hesitation!" She said, "Don't use the word normally with horses."

The great thing about Maren is she will sit on her horse all day just waiting for either her horse or mine to make a move. She won't force and she just chatted away Parellisms as my horse refused to cross. Many, many people passed us during this time, including a mountain biker who just rode through the creek right beside Mag. Oh boy. Maren, "Just look where you want to go, don't ask, just let him decide." Hrm, I was annoyed cuz this creek is nothing for him. But he kept saying, "I'd rather turn around for home." I wonder why.

The people, almost all of them, are very understanding of people with young horses, that is, with riders obviously having some trouble. They graciously move away and leash their dogs. We said Danke so many times today.

Finally he crossed and I praised him but I may have rolled my eyes.

Speaking of rolling eyes, the teenager who leases Moritz showed up today and said to me, "My sister has given up on horses. She says she keeps having nightmares about the accident on Wolke." She rolled her eyes like only teenagers can do. I felt really bad, I wanted to say something but there were lots of people around and she started talking to them. It's sad to see someone lose their trust in horses, but totally understandable. It can happen to any of us, anytime.

Then we rode up a hill and some horses passed above at the moment I asked Maren to take a photo of me on my horse in the woods, which I don't think I have yet. I was sorry to see that I was too close to her so she only got our heads, oh well.

Then we came to the creek and bridge of doom and at first I thought, "No big deal, we can do this." She said we would not even think about the bridge today (after hearing about my accident) and we'd just stay in the water.

I didn't realize how long she meant by stay in the water, but it was a very, very long time.

Mag crossed first, no problem, even after falling into a deep mud spot and sinking in an unsettling way.

Then we crossed again and Chinook refused. Why? No idea. So Maren just started playing Parelli games, saying "Yeehaw" and joking around while Mag stood on the other side, nibbling raspberry branches. But Chinook would not cross. Funny, I said, forward is home, and we're on the home side of the creek. Let me come back to you.

So I crossed again, and then back again. Mag had no problem with that.

Again, we waited, and everything was cool until a group of 5 mountain bikers approached from behind Mag and made their rapid way to the water. I didn't know what they would do and started to worry. One of the bikes had a trailer behind it. Then they all crossed the bridge, directly next to Mag at the water's edge. I was so worried because it was so loud, and Mag's never experienced that before. Then they were gone, and I'd lost my cool, apparently, cuz Mag suddenly wanted out of there, stat.

He didn't want to stand still any more, it really was a long, long wait for Chinook, and he didn't want to eat branches any more. So I took him back into the water, yet again.

Maren said, "You were scared of those bikes, but your horse was not. You have an amazing horse, that he can remain calm when you, a predator, show fear." She's right. I will eventually trust Mag, but we're not there yet.

I breathed deeply and finally Chinook came into the water.

This was a great test for Mag to be forced to stand still in a place where we had experienced great stress a few weeks ago. I am happy he was able to do it, and ashamed that I made it harder for him than it should have been.

The rest of the ride was one-handed, relaxed, fun. So many users, but no problem.

At the top of the hill we entered a little village and she told me I should dismount because it's full of scary tarps, gardeners, and those German exterior window coverings that make loud noises when they're raised or lowered. She said her husband fell off Blue because of those window things. I was  always surprised that Mara and Mag did not spook at them more often, but they're European horses, they've grown up around those window things (and I apologize for not being able to describe them better).

I think I could have ridden through that village, but instead I totally enjoyed looking at the gardens in front of each house, with their colorful Easter eggs hanging from their bushes and gates and even surrounding a front door in one case, a beautiful display. Germans love their Easter egg decorations. I have finally succumbed to this tradition, but this year I'm waiting until after Good Friday because J told me that Christians shouldn't decorate for Easter before the saddest day of the year.

Mag proved as steady as always through that village, letting cars pass by him. As Nina told me, "If you ride out with Chinook, MAG will be the role model!" Again it seems to be true. Chinook would balk, and we would ride past him, Mag carefully observant, but confident.

Maren said she'd love to come visit our farm and meet our donkey. I really, really hope she means it. Of all the people at this barn, I can only see myself staying in touch with her, if she's really interested in bringing her horses out here, as she said she would.

6 days and counting.