Lungeing

My mom lunged me today in the Round Pen. She even put my side reins on. Lungeing is one of those things people think of doing that make no sense to horses but we have to do them anyway. I don't mind. Sometimes it's a lot of fun. And it's easier than having my mom ride me. I like it when she rides me but it is easier to lunge.

When I first came to live with my mom, I had no idea how to lunge. I was only 4 then. I'm 5 now, and I know a lot more. Back then I only knew how to free lunge. That's when your mom puts you in the Round Pen loose and then she stands in the middle with a whip and tells you to go fast. Well, at least that's what I thought it meant then. It's more complicated than that because really you have to go at the speed she asks for. Like if she tells you to trot, you have to do it. And if she tells you to go the other way, you're supposed to turn around and go the other way. And you're supposed to stay near the fence and not cut through the middle. It's a lot of work, even free lungeing.

I learned what she wanted after a while. At first I just ran a lot. I'd get really excited too and kick up my heels. Mom didn't mind that but sometimes I'd run really close to her and kick my heels up right at her. I wasn't really trying to kick her but I was kind of trying to scare her a little bit. I just wanted to play. Besides, I thought maybe if I scared her, she wouldn't make me work anymore and I'd get to go back in my stall and eat hay. But she never did get scared. And she didn't like it when I played like that. I did it one or two times and then the next time I did it, WHAP! She slapped me right across my butt with that whip! It hurt! So I stopped doing that.

After I figured out how to free lunge pretty well, Mom put a lunge line on and taught me how to lunge like that. I didn't get it at all at first. See, a lunge line is like a long, long lead rope. I figured it was a lead rope so when Mom told me to go, I didn't know what the heck she was talking about. I just kept walking up to her and nudging her because I thought we'd be going for a walk. But she'd push me away and wave the whip at me and tell me to walk. I didn't want to walk without her. I like to go for walks with my mom. Sometimes she takes me to places with grass and lets me eat. Grass is so good! It's even better than hay. She never lets me eat enough though. There's all kinds of it left and she makes me leave! That makes me mad. All the other horses get to eat grass lots longer than me.

Anyway, she kept trying and finally one day I kind of walked in a little itty bitty circle around her and she told me I was a Good Girl so I figured that's what she wanted. I got better at it after that and now I know how to lunge really good. I can even canter and everything. Sometimes Mom lunges me in the Flat Arena and it doesn't even matter that it's not round like a circle because I know I have to go that way around her even so. That's how us grown-up horses do it.

Now I can lunge in side reins. That's this thing my mom puts on me sort of like a saddle only it's not so big. It's like a long strap around my belly and then there are these reins that attach to my bridle. It's kind of like having Mom on me holding my reins only she's on the ground holding the lunge line. When I lunge in side reins, I can't be as lazy as I can just with my halter. I have to hold my head up more and it makes me feel like my muscles are working harder. I don't really get it but I kind of feel pretty like that. I feel kind of like Kia who lives in the next stall. She's a big fancy mare, a Hanoverian. She does all kinds of stuff with her mom. I watch her sometimes when she's out in the Flat Arena. She always looks like she's dancing or something. She tried to explain some of it to me once but then I saw some vines near my paddock fence and tried to eat them and they wouldn't break off so I got a big long piece in my mouth and was chewing and chewing and chewing and finally got it all. It didn't taste very good. And by then Kia's mom had come and she had to go.

Today I lunged for a while and it was okay. Mom made me trot a lot. I don't mind trotting so much when she's not riding me. I did get sick of it though but just when I was thinking that it would be nice to do something else, she asked me to canter. That was fun. I don't usually get to canter long in side reins but a little canter makes me feel good. Sometimes Mom seems to know just what I want. Then she had me go the other way and I did. I thought she might let me canter that way too so I was really, really good and sure enough, she did. So it was fun. I didn't get to roll, though. I really wanted to.

When I got back to my stall, she brushed me and put me in it and then brought in a new bag of shavings! I love new shavings. They smell good and they're all soft and light, not messy and trampled the way they get. I always help spread them out. Mom lets me. She pours them out of the bag and I paw at them and make a nice bed. Then I roll in it. So that was good. I didn't get to roll in the dirt but I got to roll in my shavings and that's even better.

I don't know why anyone would want to be anything but a horse.