Clear Creek Revisited

I was so pleased to be able to squeeze another trail ride in with S before I head off to braid again! I really wanted Finn and I to have a more positive experience than our last ride before we both take a break. So, after some deliberation, I chose Clear Creek, a trail we know well and that doesn't present too much challenge to our emotional fitness.

After all the wooded, more mountainous rides we've done lately, it was really nice to be back to winding through the sagebrush on a sandy trail:

We took advantage of the good footing and gradual, winding climb through the foothills to get in some long, steady trots and even a few nice canters. Finn did awesome, I was so pleased with his relaxation and rhythm in the trot, even though at times S and T were quite a ways ahead of us.

It was about 80 degrees and the horses are starting to put on their winter fuzz, so they got pretty sweaty during that part of the ride. There was, however, snow in sight... I love mountains:

See the snow caps on the distance mountains?

We went further than we've ever gone on this out-and-back trail, and wouldn't you know it... less than 100 yards from where we've stopped before, there was a bridge! Luckily, this bridge was at least three times as wide as the ones we struggled with at Brown's Creek, and it had safe, sandy "landings" on both sides. I thought at first it might not even be an issue, but Finn definitely informed me otherwise.

He would have been happy to rush across, but I wasn't having that. I got off to discuss going without rushing, asking him to step his front feet onto the bridge and stop, until he could semi-relax there. I did get on and ride across after that, and then we rode a little ways further before turning around.

Again, I thought the bridge wouldn't be such an issue since we had just had a prolonged discussion about it, but Finn said otherwise. Again, he would have been happy to rush across, but I wasn't having it. In the end, I didn't ride him across on our second go, just got a slight improvement on the ground and moved on. We had to be back to the barn to meet my trimmer at a certain time, so I didn't want to take up more time.

Clearly, we need to work on this at home. Finn absolutely has to learn to walk calmly and confidently across a bridge in order for it to be safe for him to do so. So, I'll have to talk to the barn owner about maybe keeping a large piece of plywood in the arena for a while. I'll need something I can easily lift and move by myself. At least it will give us a starting point.

Anyway, Finn was a little on adrenalin heading back towards home after the bridge... I'm not sure if it was the bridge or the change of direction that got him so fired up. He was by no means terrible, still maintaining a walk on a loose rein (a VERY forward walk, but still a walk)... but he wasn't really connected. He had a hard time standing still when we stopped. So, we kept stopping and standing until he could commit to stopping, then going on. For this part of the ride, I asked S to ride behind us so there wouldn't be yet another thing (T) drawing him forward.

He settled back down after a while and the rest of the ride was really lovely. S and I both played quite a bit with transitions, which resulted in us being quite far apart at times. Finn handles S & T disappearing behind us with absolutely no concern. When they disappear ahead of us, he starts to think a bit about looking for T, but again nothing too dramatic.

Anyway, all in all, it was a super ride! Exactly what I was hoping for, even if we didn't quite achieve what I'd have liked to with the bridge. When I come home, we'll get back to that!

Another view of the beautiful desert.

The best view there is. :)