HOT day!

It was terribly hot today, hotter than it's been in a long time. It made me think about it and I think it's been a really nice summer so far. Hardly ever hot, mostly just nice. Cool at night and then nice and warm - but not hot - during the day. But today made up for it because it was pretty darn hot.

Luckily Mom didn't make me work. I didn't feel like it at all. She usually gives me a day off after she's ridden me for a bunch of days in a row. She rode yesterday so I was about due for a day off and this was a good day for it to be. So it worked out well.

Yesterday we had a good ride. First we rode in the Flat Arena for a little bit but then some other people and horses came in and started hogging all the room so we did a couple of poop loops. I didn't much feel like doing poop loops and I'm afraid I was a little sassy. I wanted to walk over close to the pasture fence as we went up the hill and Mom didn't want me to and we got into a little argument about it and finally I got frustrated and kicked out with one back foot! I was mad! I don't why I can't walk where I want to walk sometimes.

I fussed a little bit more but Mom wouldn't budge and I finally got sick of arguing about it. It just wasn't worth it. So I walked straight and went where she wanted to go and she quit thumping my sides and things got nicer. We rode by Misty's barn. Earlier while Mom was saddling me, Misty and her mom had come riding by and they stopped to visit. I like Misty and I like her mom. While our moms talked, Misty told me that her mom had ridden her in the Pony Arena that morning but there were all kinds of strange things in it. Her mom made her walk over a piece of wood that was raised up off the ground, and she had her back up between two poles on the ground. She said most of the stuff was okay but strange but then her mom rode her up to a piece of rope stretched between two posts. Her mom reached down and picked up one end of it and it started flopping around and Misty said that was when she decided she didn't like the way things were going at all.

Well, I really couldn't blame her. It sounded very strange and ropes are tricky. They can get tangled up around your legs or slap you or any number of things. So being a good and responsible horse, she figured it was up to her to keep her mom safe since her mom obviously had no sense about the situation whatsoever. So she started backing away and turning around and trying to get a safe distance away. Her mom argued with her for a bit but she finally got her point across. She's a good horse.

Misty was eating a hay snack when we went by her place and I tried to drift over closer just in case there was some for me but Mom made me keep going and Misty looked a little grumpy and her mom just waved so that was that. We got down to the Little Rolling Arena where the road levels out and I started walking right along and by then I'd forgotten that I didn't want to go on a poop loop so we kept going past my barn and did another one. That one was smoother because I wasn't fussing anymore.

When we got back to the barn the second time, the Flat Arena was empty so we went in there and Mom had me do some more trotting and walking and trotting. I made up my mind that I was going to be a Good Girl about it and I popped into a nice trot as soon as she asked me to. She was really happy with that and had me do some circles and go around the arena a couple of times before she asked me to walk. Then she asked for a trot again and I did it again. I could tell she felt good about that.

So then she started working on getting me to trot a little smoother. Back before my feet were bothering me, we had worked on what she calls contact, where I carry my bit nicely and balance my body so that I'm not just shuffling along but pushing myself forward with my hind end. It takes a lot of practice and I'd gotten so that I was starting to understand it but then my feet started bothering me and I had a lot of time off and I forgot all about it.

Yesterday, Mom started working again on that and I found that once she reminded me, I remembered a lot. Once I was trotting, she sort of took up the reins so I could feel them more and pushed me a little more with her seat and legs. It made me remember how to use my back end more and my trot got a little smoother which she liked. Then when she asked me to walk, she kept up the contact and urged me forward and I was walking on light contact too.

It's hard work and when you're not used to it, you get tired quickly. Mom just worked me like that for a short time in both directions, going at a walk and trot, and I'd remembered a lot by the time we finished. Then she let the reins go loose so I could stretch my neck way out and relax and that felt good. She let me walk around the arena like that a couple of times but she kept me walking along the edge of it and now just going wherever I wanted to. I felt good, like I'd done a lot of work and made her happy.

So it was nice to get a day off today. Mom gave me a hay snack and cleaned my stall, then she took me for a nice walk. We went to the Pony Arena and I got a drink at the water trough like I like to, and we went to the Little Rolling Arena but I couldn't find just the right spot to roll so I didn't. When we got back to the barn, Mom hosed me off even though i wasn't sweaty at all. It felt good though because it was so hot and since there was a breeze blowing, it really cooled me off.

She put me away and went away for a long time but she came back after I'd had my alfalfa. She brought me my bucket dinner too which was nice. I'd wondered if I was going to get one because it was awfully early for it when she was there the first time. She took care of Spark while I was eating and I noticed when she brought him back to the pasture, he was all wet so she must have hosed him off too. That was nice. It will help him keep cool too. And then she got me out and hosed me again and I liked that.

So now I'm pretty comfy and it's cooled off some. Mom said it was going to be hot again tomorrow and that she was going to come early and ride me. That will be nice. I'll try to be Good.