Flash was pretty great this Saturday. She even loped off immediately a couple of times right when I kissed- I was so surprised one of these times that she almost left me behind. She is wont to lope in tiny circles with her shoulder dropped, so after she got a little more consistent at the canter departure, we worked on doing larger loops and staying in the bridle. We worked on some other things, like moving her off my leg, and all in all I'd say we had a very successful ride.
Next up was Sienna. I should have known something was up when she, of her own volition, took off trotting and then cantering on the longe line... this usually lazy horse of mine. I got on her, and immediately things went south. She fought me for her head, she wanted to trot like a jackhammer, and she was just as unpleasant as she could be. After working her slow for a good while, I asked her to canter on her right lead- and we were off to the races. She grabbed the bit in her teeth, shook her head back and forth, and was like "later, sucka". I grabbed my outside rein and started s l o w l y pulling her into the fence to stop her (without tripping her), and she threw her head up angrily in the air, her feet wanting to follow.
And that was it. I had had it. I leaped off of her, sending her flying backwards with me barely hanging onto the reins, and we had a little pow-wow about her horrible attitude. Once that was over, I got back on, and we had a beautiful canter on the right lead. We next had to work through how to whoa at "whoa", a concept that we keep having to come back to, but we got that settled, as well. I got off feeling like we had at least accomplished something. And I vowed to ride her more- Flash takes up my daylight on weekdays, so Sienna has had a lot of time off.
Finally, I tacked up Chica with my English saddle and just her halter, and we went off down the road to relax and unwind (for me, at least). We went further than we have before, and of course the sky chose to start sprinkling, but it was a great ride that reminded me how awesome Chica is. At one point, we were cantering down the side of the road, and we got into a boggy area that started sucking at Chica's feet. Rather than stopping, Chica slowed to a lope unlike anything she has ever done before and loped through the mess, striving to stay at the gait I had asked for. On the way back, my back started hurting, so I rode side-saddle for a little ways (something I still hope to learn for serious one day). It's SO SO nice having a horse that I trust, especially in the midst of Flash and Sienna. Sienna was getting there last semester, before Christmas break, but I dropped the ball with her.
Sunday turned out to be a stormy day. I woke up at 7 to the wind picking up, saw on my phone that we were under a tornado watch, and went into action- I let my dogs out before the storm hit, and ran outside, with the intention of trying to get the horses fed before the rain and wind and such. I made it out to the feed shed, and there was a flash of light, and a huge "boom!", and I thought, "Abort! Abort!" Since my roommate's baby is right next to the feed shed, I threw her hay and feed, and then ran back inside- right as the rain started. So the horses had an impromptu day off, and I cleaned a little and took a nap and had an impromptu day off for myself.
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| Neat clouds |
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| Beautiful sky |
So, I guess this post turned into a horse post, as do most things around me. In ending, here is a non-horse picture of some ducks that have taken to the pond behind my house. Every time I walk out of my front door, like 20 of these guys fly up quacking, scaring me to death.
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