here we have some really bad deep sucky mud on the trail, especially with drought and going down to drink at ponds and streams that have dried some and left a very muddly bank. People say riding a young horse hard in deep sucky mud is a good way to give them bowed tendons! On the trail I saw an older TWH work himself out of belly deep mud, one step at a time, I thought to myself, man, what a fantastic horse. he never lost his head and just one step, one lunge at a time, got out and I thought we would have to get him out with national geographic helicopters and a crane :) (this was a few years ago) But makes me wonder if it is primitive trail sense... because yesterday going down to a river Tivar demonstrated a primitive trail sense i think. None of the others would go down to drink from the river, a river that goes underground for miles and comes out, fed by springs and it is sorta narrow and deep right now. But when he felt the mud sinking beneath him he did not panic and try and lunge out, he walked quickly DEEPER, like he knew a stream or river gets more solid when you are actually IN it, then he stood belly deep and drank, then when we went to leave I got myself ready for him to lunge out quickly but he did the coolest thing where he sorta hopped out with his front feet then unstuck one back foot, hopped, unstuck the other back foot, in a methodical calm, totally relaxed way. Like he knew the way to work himself out of deep mud. He was also savvy when we came up on a wooden observation deck overlooking a deep deep skinkhole. It was at the state park. The overlook was small, about the size of a stairway landing, and you could easily see over the railing that it was hundreds of feet straight down. that we were SUSPENDED which you would think would terrify a horse. none of the others would go anywhere near it, but he walked out on it and looked all around like cool, then when we started backing out someone hollered be careful its slippery, and it had some sort of algae growing on it that made it very very slippery so I let him back out and he would reach with one foot and test it then let it land, then apply weight slowwwly then when it started to slip adjust himself and I just let him work his way out. He finally did a half turn and hopped over the slipperiest part. its interesting to learn as time goes by what a horse knows and what he doesnt, what terrifies him and what doesnt, what terrible issues he has and what he is ok with. one thing he did also, we had to walk thru a very narrow gate between two tall posts between a low two foot limestone wall. He chose to step over the wall which made him have to hop out with his back feet. interesting. Janice
-- yipie tie yie yo
