Dewey After 3 Years

What's weird is, when you start doing stuff you're afraid of, you forget to be afraid. It's been 3 years now, of me riding Dewey. Two trips to the hospital, one broken finger. But those were two bad rides out of about 700 rides maybe? And both of the bad rides were because of youthfulness, and me not being careful enough. Now I'm going out almost every day, and we're in a good routine. I like the time out, he likes the time out. In fact, I think he'd like more days off actually. He's getting a little slow! But now we go out into the dam alone, today we took a new path we have never ridden alone, along the golf course. I haven't ridden it except once about 2 yrs ago. It is a LONG trail, and ugly! But it forced us to canter quite a bit, which is the scary thing for me since I don't practice it very much and not out on trail for long stretches. This path had lots of long stretches, so we did our cantering, and he was perfect, slow and ready to quit when I was. So in a way, it was a good path to take when I need to have him stretch his legs. We just won't do the whole loop, around the lake after, because it took almost 3 hours door to door. That's just too much time for me. An hr and a half ride is a good amount of time, but since we live so far from the dam, it always adds a half hr to the ride. Dewey is getting really great at doing what you ask, walking over scary stuff, being poked by scary stuff, totally enjoyed standing in the creek and having a snack and gulps of water. We went out without trail boots and I got off and walked him over steep or rocky ground, just to give his feet a break. We are definitely enjoying a partnership - growing our trust and confidence in each other. And learning to use my whole body, and using three different saddles - treeless, dressage and Aussie. He's a willing and loving creature. I've learned so much the last 3 years. Now that we're comfy out on the trail at the moment, I'll get him riding with buddies again, and I'm looking for a buddy horse for him. Also I'm looking for a harness again so I can get back to ground driving. He'll be a cart and trail horse. And I'm going to get the kids riding a little each month so they can gain riding skills in the arena and be able to go on trail with me. Dewey is almost mellow enough now for them to ride out on trail with me walking alongside. He loves going out with Becky, she runs in and out of brush and in and out of the creek and he feels good with her out there, and it's good for him too. I guess the point is, when I have a bad ride I feel like giving up, but since I keep going anyway, the practice seems to work. At least with a young horse. Getting out and riding is really the only way to grow your trust, your partnership, and your skills. And get comfortable and confident on the trails. Exposure to anything takes the fear out of it. I should use this in other aspects of life! Right now fresh bread is baking so I'm going to eat it. Hope everyone out there keeps riding. Oh also, you can ride a horse when they have hives. If anyone is wondering. He's still got some edema from it, but the water is coming out and riding seems to be fine.