So, you know how they say "give a horse his head and he'll find his way home"? Apparently that homing instinct is not bred into, or rather bred OUT of, Trakehners, since Ellie was lacking it and now it seems that Oliver is, too. Sam definitely has it. Last time I got lost (gee, this seems to happen a lot!) in Weymouth Woods, I gave Sam his head. He dropped it, snuffled on the ground, and then made a beeline towards home, withouth leaving the trail once. Such a good boy.
Oliver and I, and Emma and Austin, all went for a trail ride. It was supposed to be a short one, but somewhere along the way I turned right instead of left (or vice versa) and found myself somewhere I hadn't been before. I gave Ollie his head, and he immediately set off into the woods, off the trail. Since he was so positive about where he was going, I let him lead. Poor Emma and Austin had to follow along, picking their way through some heavy forest underbrush, and we went on this way for a while, until I saw that Connecticut Ave. was dead ahead of us! Exactly the OPPOSITE direction we were supposed to be heading. I have no idea what Ollie was thinking, but I was plenty annoyed and worried about the dogs. I started back the way we came and when we came to a T in the path, one way obviously headed towards the barn and one way the opposite, again Oliver tried to go the wrong way, but I manged to convince him that my way was the better way. We eventually made it back to Bethesda, at which point I took the dirt road back home because of Emma and Austin trailing along behind. Poor puppies.
So, the good things about this are 1) this was Oliver's first time out by himself on the actual trail. 2) He was incredible - didn't do anything wrong, and marched along like he was enjoying himself (and he probably was, up until when we got lost). He even went through the water crossing right behind the pastures. 3) He went down the dirt road with only a little coaxing in a few places (all those scary Xmas decorations). I swear, this guys just keeps getting better and better every time I ride him.
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