The first time was Tuesday. We were riding in the pasture. Chica was a safe distance away, grazing. My roommate's horse, Bo, was locked up in the round pen where he couldn't interfere. Sienna was listening, doing everything that was asked for her, so I thought, why not try and see what happens?
Now, a couple of horrible scenarios did run through my mind: 1) I ask her to canter, and she bolts. 2) She takes off bucking and throws my sorry butt. For the first scenario, I figured that she probably wouldn't go very far since the other horses were right there. Also, I feel pretty equipped to deal with her were that to happen- all I have to do is turn her in a small circle and regain control. For the second, well, it happens. I just have to stay on top of what her body language is telling me and try to prepare myself, and trust that I've done enough to prepare both of us for this.
When I asked her, I was pleasantly surprised that though we did trot a good ways into it, I didn't have to really get after her. She's learning! I can't say it was pretty, but it was a huge step in developing trust between the two of us and a huge confidence booster. Also, she stayed in the canter without breaking gait, which was probably the biggest surprise to me. She is terribly fond of breaking into the trot in the round pen, so I expected to have to really keep her going. But, like many things we do, she proved me wrong. We stopped and went the other way, and she was very good, minus her trying to work our circles out so that she could inch closer and closer to Chica. She got a little pissy, but she didn't act on her anger. Which is all I can ask, being 1/10 her size.
After she calmed down, we did another new thing- we went and rode down the road (alert the Paint Horse Journal!). Not too far- I didn't want to throw too many things at her. Just far enough for me to make sure she was listening to me, in spite of the scary cows, street signs, and culverts. And of course, she was great. She felt like a coiled spring, but we never had any scary moments. Even with Bo calling to her (like he does anytime I ride a horse out of his comfort zone- drives me crazy) and with some gigantic, horrible bug biting her every step, she didn't whirl back to go home or fight against forward motion... I think she rather enjoyed getting to explore Beyond the Pasture.
Our ride yesterday certainly wasn't anything to write home about, unless you want Home to worry about your sanity. We had issues with giving our face, we had issues with bending, and at one point, I'm pretty sure someone thought about bucking someone else off. But we w-t-c again,and we both lived to tell about it. On the bright side, our showmanship cool down went very well. She's really nailing her pivots. Our biggest issue is setting up- I'll go to set her up, and she's like, "Oh, you want me to not move my front right leg? Well here you go, that's the leg I'm moving." Obviously, it's something I'm doing. Other times, she'll get fed up with me nit-picking with her feet, so instead of moving them she'll lean over and stick her nose in my hair. That sounds weird, but I don't know how to explain it any better. I'm sure the judges will understand.
Before I sign off, I just thought of one other bright moment from yesterday's ride: Sienna is beginning to trust me more. Case in point: I did not lock up Bo before our ride, as he was eating hay, and I also didn't feel like it was my responsibility to get someone else's knowingly pain in the arse horse out of the way. Well, long story short, I should have locked him up anyway. This horse has to be in the middle of anything that is going on, which is not in the least bit cute. Especially when I'm trying to lope my very green horse, and he keeps walking up to us to see what it going on. Normally, on Chica, I can run at him and chase him off while screaming like a banshee, but I haven't done much of that on Sienna for obvious reasons. Until last night. I got so fed up with him, that I pointed her at him and trotted at him while making noises not unlike a fire hose. Several times. And she never doubted me once, which is even more amazing when you consider he is over her in the pecking order. I wonder if doing this daily will cause anarchy in the ranks? Because I am so game.
Last but not lease, show pics!
This describes her in every halter class we went in. Note the twirling umbrella in the background.
Set up in one of our halter classes!
In showmanship
Heading off to go ride with the big kids for the first time
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