We put the horses in the trailer, washed Miles the border collie and let him hop in the truck, and off to the mountains we went! Miles is a wonderful driving companion. I probably should get a bumper sticker that says "Dog is my co-pilot" because he actually is.
Once we arrived at the campsite we unloaded the horses into the corrals and set up camp.
Carol had recently gotten an older tent from a friend which came in its original box but without any instructions for assembly. It was essentially a large collection of white poles and a neatly wrapped screen cover. Thank goodness Jasi was there to reason through the spatial operations, otherwise we might still be there trying to figure it out. I was very tired from the drive up so I went to lie down in the gooseneck of the trailer, but I could hear the discussion between Jasi and Carol as they worked on the project. It sounded more like a Dr. Seuss audio book than tent assembly, with conversation running along the lines of, "1B, 2A, red fish, blue fish, gable gable, leg leg, hey macarena!"
Eventually Jasi put it together, and then we had a great screened in area to prepare food without any bugs. The tent didn't stop the chipmunks from inviting themselves to the party, however, and we never did figure out whether it was Chip or Dale who kept creeping back into camp.
We enjoyed campfires and lots of marshmallows (where do you fall on the burned vs. browned debate?) and generally ate well as we all shared meals.
The first ride on Friday was definitely a test for Raven. I tacked her up in all the trail riding gear. She had her rope halter on under her bridle (in case I need to tie her somewhere out on the trails), and wore saddle bags in the front of her saddle for the first time. I introduce saddle bags with horse cookies, so the first few times I went into the zippered pouch I extracted cookies which she then got to eat. It didn't take too much of that before Raven was totally fine with the pouches.
When I went to mount, Raven was debating about how she wanted to behave. I got on, but I was the first one so we needed to wait for Rain and Shambhu to be ready to go. Raven threatened to rear a couple times saying that she wanted to GET GOING. I was able to diffuse this tension in her by letting her walk around the camp while we waited. Several times she balked at shadows or a log near the parking, but I didn't react to her and when she realized I wasn't bothered by it she decided it wasn't a big deal either. If I had tried to force her to stand still or had corrected her spooking, the interaction would have escalated into a major altercation. Because I handled it mostly by just ignoring her nonsense, she decided there was nothing to argue about and she relaxed some.
On this first ride Raven saw bicycles, hikers, rocky terrain, steep up and downhills, and multiple water crossings. She was very "looky" and startled a few times. In the first water crossing she very nearly had a melt-down. Raven did follow Shambhu and Rain into the water, but when they left the water for the other side Raven found herself alone in the stream. She began staring at the moving water under her feet, and suddenly tensed up. Her entire body began to shake, and I could tell she was just about ready to blow. If I hadn't been balanced or hadn't talked to her in just the right tone of voice, I have no doubt that she would have launched herself (and me) into the air and then to who knows where! However, I talked to her in the same tone of voice I always use, and calmly explained to her that she was just fine, and could put her foot anywhere she wanted. Miraculously, she believed me. Raven took a deep breath, her body stopped shaking, and she then carefully walked out of the water.
Clearly it's paid off to spend so much time with her in the Bit of Honey Circus, doing low level jumping, and hacking around in the fields at home. This is a perfect example of why I invest so much energy in a horse's training foundation. Because of that, when we get to something that is completely new and terrifying, Raven knew how to handle a new and terrifying experience by looking to me for direction and guidance. When I said it's safe, she believed me and followed my instruction.
We went on several rides over the weekend with the horses. The first ride on Friday ended up being much longer and more technical than we expected. What began as a brief hack around the grounds became a three hour, five mile ride because of the hill work, rocky terrain, downed aspen trees that created a natural jumping grid, and great water crossings. As the ride went on Raven got to experience riding in all the trail positions: last, middle, and first. We learned she much prefers to lead the group from the front in a great power walk. She marched up and down steep hills while paying close attention to her footing, needing coaching from me on where to place her feet just at the beginning of the ride. This incredibly smart horse very quickly took ownership of her job as the lead mare and embraced the responsibility. Raven was particularly good at carefully walking over the downed trees, never putting a foot wrong and always asking me for help when she wasn't sure where to go.
The rest of our rides were fun, too, and I got a great deal of pleasure out of training at the water crossings. Rosie hadn't done a lot of water work either, but Rain and Shambhu are quite good at it, so we had the perfect group set up to school water. At the beginning Shambhu had to lead us all in, but by the end of the weekend Raven was happy to lead our little herd into the river.
Some video of Raven in the water can be seen here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?edit=vd&v=zXLTyD75tPI
This combination of smart, brave, and eager to lead makes me very excited to begin Raven's eventing training. I much prefer to start them this way, with leisurely trail rides, so see whether they like being out in the open and going through obstacles as a way to assess their aptitude for cross country. Raven passed with flying colors by being bold, but also looking to me for guidance. That's the best recipe for a cross country horse, one who will make good decisions but also follow my instructions.
When it was finally time to go home on Sunday we packed up camp and I led Raven to the trailer to head home. Just as we arrived at the back of the trailer we heard thundering hooves and saw Rosie go cantering by! She had gotten her corral gate open and didn't want to be left behind. I knew she wasn't going to go far because she didn't want to leave her herd, so when Raven asked me what we should do about it I merely replied with the command to get in the horse trailer. In another small miracle, with a loose horse running around behind her, Raven decided to follow my directions and politely hopped in the trailer. She walked to the front and stood quietly for me to close the divider, watching Rosie's antics through the window. Rosie then approached me and asked to also get in the trailer, at which point I could halter her and end the loose horse adventure.
I was so proud of Raven for responding to the extensive training she's had by being so level headed. I'm also grateful she's the kind of horse who responds so well to elaborate structure and routine. That way when something odd happens like a friend getting loose, Raven's default is to look to me for instruction on how to proceed. If I didn't take such a firm, calm, leadership position with her then Raven would try to be in charge of the show, and that wouldn't go well for any of us.
Overall it was a wonderful weekend. The last great part was Jasi disassembling the screen tent with a system, wrapping each section of poles with a colored elastic so it would be easier to put up again next time.
And drawing A diagram of how to put it together again… In case she's not on the next camping trip. But we hope she is!
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