Riding bareback

Today I carried my mom around with no saddle. That's called "bareback." I don't know why they call it that but they do. It's just a horse term. There are lots of them. Some of them make sense and some of them don't. They probably come from other words that made sense at one time but don't really now.

Anyway, I was glad to see my mom. She got to my stall and said hello and petted me and then she looked in and said, "Oh, Bella!" I knew what she meant. My stall was an awful mess. I had been upset because Kia is gone again and I'd forgotten about being clean and pooped all over it. Then I turned a lot of circles so it was sort of ground up into little bitty pieces and scattered all over the place.

She wasn't mad at me though. She just got me out and gave me my hay snack and started cleaning. By the time she was done, there really weren't any shavings in there and I didn't have a new bag. The guys always leave my new bags of shavings right outside my door and there wasn't one there this time. So I knew I'd have to do without. I don't really like that. It's nice to have a good bed to lie down in and have a roll if you want. But it was my own fault.

Then she got out my brush box and started grooming me. She made me all pretty with my mane and tail all combed and my face brushed and she put fly spray on me and cleaned my feet. And then she got out my bridle.

Well, that was kind of odd because usually my bridle is the last thing she takes out, after putting my saddle and boots on. But this time, she just put the bridle on, put that black bucket that she wears onto her head, grabbed the stick she always carries and led me to the mounting block. So I knew she was going to ride with no saddle.

We've done that before a few times - not many. One time she rode me with just my rope halter and lead rope and she only rode over to the grass and let me graze while she sat on me. That was fun. I really liked it. But the grass is all gone now and since I had a bridle on, I knew we weren't going to do that. She doesn't let me eat anything when I have my bit in my mouth. It's part of Manners.

I stood still like a Good Girl while she got on. Once she was up there, it felt kind of funny. When you're used to having a saddle on your back, just having a person there feels pretty strange. And her balance wasn't as good as it usually is, probably because of that bandage. I can tell that it's heavy just by the way it hits my side. That feels funny too but I don't mind. She can't help it.

Because of all that, I was really careful about walking. I didn't want her to fall off. That would be awful! My mom fell off me just one time before and it was terrible! I felt really bad but it wasn't my fault - even she said so. What happened is we were riding with Sparky and his mom in the Pony Arena. Me and Spark were side by side and my mom asked me to trot. Well, that's when I was being bad about trotting so I kind of jigged to one side and ran right into Spark.

Somehow, my feet got tangled up and I started to fall. It was scary! I went down on both my knees and tried to get back up but I couldn't seem to get my legs back under me. I kept trying and my legs kept scrabbling around for a foothold and in the meantime my mom was trying to help balance me but she was half out of the saddle and her weight was coming forward and keeping me from getting back up. I felt her finally just let herself fall and she landed next to me with a big thud. As soon as she let loose, I was able to get to my feet and I stopped right away. I felt so bad! Sparky told me later that his mom has fallen off him before and he always feels bad too. Neither one of us would ever dump our moms on purpose.

Anyway, she wasn't hurt which was a relief. My knees were scuffed and sore and I had a little scuff on my nose where my face had hit the ground. Mom got back on and made me trot which I did, but then she brought me home and put medicine on all my scuffs. She called me a Silly Girl for tripping over Spark and I guess I was. I guess in a way it WAS my fault but I didn't do it on purpose.

Today I wasn't going to let anything happen to her. She's got a bandage on and if she fell off, she might get hurt even worse. I don't think she should be riding me, to be honest but she is my mom so I have to do what she says. So I started out walking but every time I felt her balance shift a little bit, I had to stop and swivel my head around to sniff her foot and make sure she was okay. It took us a long time to do one poop loop.

I think she understood though. She was pretty patient with me although she did finally smack me with her stick and tell me she was okay. I went along a little better after that and she did seem to be pretty secure. I got worried again though when we went down the hill by the manure pile. It's kind of a steep hill and she only has one leg to hold on with. I started being careful again and she finally got off me at the top of the hill by the pasture and led me the rest of the way home.

I was a little worried about her getting off but she did okay. She slid her good leg over my back and landed on that one so that was good. Then she petted me a lot and kissed my nose and told me I was a really Good Girl. I was just doing my job though. I know my job is to do what my mom tells me but I also think it's my job to look out for her.

When we got back to the barn, she gave me my cookie and washed me off and put me to bed. She got Spark out and took care of him and gave me my bucket dinner and then said goodbye.

A little bit later, Spencer's mom put him in Kia's stall! That was strange. I wasn't sure what to make of it. Spencer lives in my barn a couple of stalls down and I've sniffed noses with him before. One time we were out in the Flat Arena with our moms, both of us on lead ropes and they let us sniff noses for a while. He was okay at first but then he got a little pushy so I squealed at him. Then when we turned to go away, he squealed back and we both kicked at each other. It was just a warning to back off but that's the last time I've really had anything to do with him.

I didn't really like him being in Kia's stall but I didn't pay much attention at first. Then I heard my mom come back! She stopped her car right outside my stall and got out a bag of shavings! I was happy to see her. I should have known that my mom wouldn't leave me with no bed at all. She's too good a mom for that.

As soon as she got there, I got kind of nasty toward Spencer. I just wanted to let him know that she's MY mom and that if she had anything good like shavings or hay snacks, they were for me and not him. I put my ears back at him and let him know that and he put his ears back too and squealed. That made me mad! He has his own mom and can just leave mine alone. So I bared my teeth at him through the bars and really let him know! Stupid Spencer!

Then my mom came in my stall with the shavings so I backed up and nuzzled her and she petted me. She knew I was just looking out for her. I love my mom. She spread my shavings and Spencer's mom took him out of Kia's stall and brought him back to his own so that was all right. Then my mom said goodbye again and really left.

It was a nice day.