Well, this afternoon, Dancer and I went on our first trail ride, down to the riverbank. I've never ridden him outside of the pasture before and was going to wait until my mom was able to come with us on Tami. However, he was behaving himself so well, and was so clearly communicating his boredom at walking circles and patterns around the pasture that I figured I'd give it a go. This is a little chancey on a baby stud colt being asked to leave the herd under saddle for the first time, but I did it anyhow.
He was perfect. He was scared of a discarded hubcap and a pile of debris, but was willing to stand there and snort at them until I could convince him that these were not OMG horse-eating monsters. At no time did he attempt to bolt or remove me, though he was noisy and prancey at times. The river startled him a bit, and he was unconvinced that a small water crossing was something he was willing to try. I made him stand next to the stream for a few minutes, until he was calm, but didn't ask for a crossing: always end on a positive note, and letting him know I wouldn't push him too far builds trust. Next time he'll be less upset about it.
I think that Dancer had fun...his attitude was positive all the way. I'm very proud of him. And when I think back on three years of slow, careful work to get this colt to the point where he was able to have this experience without trauma...and leave me unthrown and in one piece, incidentally...I'm really pleased and grateful.
It was really a beautiful afternoon.
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