I have got to be better about keeping up with this blog! I do apologize! Some days not much happens but then the next day all kinds of things happen! It's all I can do to keep it all straight.
The day after my last entry, my mom came out to ride me. She brought me out in the Flat Arena where we worked on some trotting. I was still giving her a hard time about trotting. It doesn't hurt anymore but I'd gotten so used to being fussy that it was just habit. She was patient but firm with me, straightening me out and insisting with her legs and seat and finally I'd trot and she'd praise me. We got into a little bit of a rhythm and I was feeling a lot better about it when I decided to canter.
She hadn't asked me. She was riding with a kind of loose rein so that I wouldn't get jabbed with the bit when we trotted since I was still being a little fussy and tossing my head. So I was trotting along and I had some extra rein and I decided to just pop into a canter.
She didn't seem to mind too much, just sat down and rode it but then I messed up by getting excited, putting my head down and bucking! I was just so happy to be running. It's no excuse, I know. I know I'm not supposed to buck and as soon as I started, Mom took up her reins and got me under control but not until I'd gotten a few pretty good ones out. She was a little off balance and not real happy with me.
She asked me to trot again and than to canter and I did but then I yanked on the reins again and tried to buck! It just feels good. I'm not going to lie. She gave me a quick smack and then rode me up to the Gremlin Arena where she worked me on trotting. A lot. I did pop into a canter once and I did buck again but she was ready for me and pulled me right back into my trot and made me keep going. She told me that we were going to ride in the Round Pen next time to work on cantering without bucking.
I hate riding in the Round Pen. It's boring and stupid. You can't get going very fast and it's harder to buck because you have to go in kind of a tight circle and really pay attention to where your feet are. I wasn't trying to be bad - I was just having fun but Mom gets so picky sometimes. I guess it's not as fun for her although I can't see why not. She never falls off or anything.
We didn't do the Round Pen thing yesterday because she was in a hurry. I guess she had to see her doctor. People have doctors too like horses do. She's been seeing either a doctor or a Shoe Man - I'm not sure which. So yesterday she lunged me in the Round Pen and we actually had a lot of fun. She had me go both ways and I was pretty good about changing direction which is something we've been working on. She had me walking and trotting and cantering and I tried to be real good so maybe she wouldn't ride me in there.
After we finished lungeing. she did some of those fun cookie games we did before. We backed up all the way across the Round Pen, and we did little circles or pivots and we did cookie stretches. It was lots of fun. I love those games best because I get to play with my mom AND I get cookies.
So that brings us to today. Mom told me when she got here that we were going in the Round Pen and I was disappointed because I'd hoped she had forgotten. But then Spencer helped me out. Spencer is one of the horses in my barn and he was walking on a lead with his mom when he decided to get silly and dance and his mom let go of his lead. I wish my mom would do that sometime but she never does. Anyway, Spence took off running around having a good old time. He ran up the road by the pasture and then into the grass. When his mom got close, he took off again and ran down the hill and onto the road.
He ran under the barn overhang and came pretty close to us. My mom talked to him and tried to get him to come to her but he took off again and ran all over the place for several minutes with his mom tailing behind. It was pretty exciting but I knew better than to get all carried away with it. I was tied outside my stall at the time and Mom was saddling me so I knew it was time to behave. When my saddle goes on, that's when I really have to be on my best behavior so I try not to let it excite me when other horses are playing or running. Mom is really strict about that.
Spencer's mom finally caught him and she brought him in the Round Pen and made him run around a lot. I know how that is! Sometimes when I get silly on the lead rope and forget to behave, my mom does the same thing. She always says, "If you have enough energy to be silly, you have enough to work." Moms can be pretty tiresome.
But today it was good because with Spencer in the Round Pen, we couldn't use it. My mom took me for a poop loop but when we got back, they were still in there and it looked like they'd be a while because Spence was still tearing around so she just brought me in the Flat Arena and we worked there.
I decided I was going to try really hard to be good and I was. It wasn't easy but I managed it. Mom rode me around a couple of times at a walk and then asked for a trot. I hesitated just a little so she gave me a firm tap with her stick and that reminded me so I trotted and it was nice. She was happy about that and we did a couple of circuits then walked and then she asked me again.
This time, I trotted as soon as she asked and I could tell she liked that. She trotted me around several times and then did a figure 8 which changed out direction and asked me to walk. We walked for a little bit and then she asked for a trot again. Well, I hesitated again. It's funny, just changing direction makes things seem so different. You get all used to doing things one way and then you're going in the other direction and it's all backwards. Mom gave me another tap and I remembered again and we did the same thing. We trotted, then walked and then I went into a nice trot without a problem.
At that point, we were trotting along and I felt my mom sit down and ask me for a canter! I didn't think she'd ask me in the Flat Arena since I'd been giving her trouble lately but she did and was I happy! I broke into a nice canter and she encouraged me but she kept a firm hold on the reins so I couldn't get my head down even if I tried. I didn't mind. It felt good to canter especially since I knew she wanted me to instead of me just doing it on my own.
I went down to a trot as we crossed the short end of the arena but she urged me right back into it which was fun and we did a good lap at a canter and then she pulled me down to a trot again. She asked me to walk, and then asked me to trot, and then asked me to canter and I was good for all of them again. So we kept doing that, going from one gait to another. Sometimes she had me trot, then canter, then trot and sometimes she had me trot, then walk, then trot, then canter. I had to pay attention to what she told me to do instead of trying to anticipate it. That's hard sometimes.
But it was fun and she seemed happy with me. We did it the other way too but it's harder for me to canter that way so we only cantered once. Mom says I have to practice more on transitions that way to build up the muscles I need to balance correctly. That's okay. I like to practice things, especially if we get to do more cantering. I think we will more often now that my back doesn't hurt anymore. I'll try to be good and not buck.
After our ride, she let me roll in the Flat Arena which was nice because it was awfully hot today and I was sweating a lot. Then she hosed me off and put me away. I had to wait for my bucket dinner while she took care of Spark but that was okay because I needed to get a drink and relax a little bit. Spark is feeling better. He says his knee hardly bothers him now so I think it will be all better soon. That's good. I don't want him to have anything serious wrong.
No comments:
Post a Comment