Well, she rode me in the Round Pen today. I knew it was going to happen. She kept talking about it. And actually, it wasn't that bad. I had to work pretty hard but it ended up being okay and she was happy with me so that was good. And then we took a poop loop.
She turned up around the usual time. My stall was an awful mess. It was bad yesterday and I didn't have much in the way of shavings so today it was really terrible. Kia's gone and from what I hear, she's gone for good. I get stressed when she's gone. I just can't seem to help it. She's my friend and it's spooky when that stall is empty. The door is left open and there's no one in it and it just seems so dark and strange and quiet over there. I hope another horse moves in soon. I'm going to miss Kia a lot but I'd rather have a stranger in there than nobody.
Of course, that means Beau is gone too. I knew it when I heard Kia was gone for good but I found out for sure today when we rode by his stall and it was empty. It's hard to be a horse sometimes. You make friends or you meet another horse you really like but you don't have any control over where your person takes you and they don't either. I just have to make my mind up to it, I guess.
But the upshot of the whole thing is that my stall was pretty messed up. Mom just cleaned the whole thing out today and put two new fresh bags of shavings in it. It's so nice! I'm trying to be good and keep it that way but I don't know how well I'll be able to. Once it gets really dark and there's no one in the next paddock, I'm more comfortable staying inside than I am going out to poop and pee. That's why it gets so bad. Mickey's no help. He just cribs.
Anyway, after she cleaned, she tacked me up and took me to the Round Pen. She brought a bucket with her. That's one of the things my mom does. She can't ride me into the Round Pen because she has to shut the gate and it's heavy and awkward and there's no way she could shut it from my back. So she has to lead me in but that leaves her with no mounting block. So she brings a bucket with a piece of hay string tied to the handle and she turns it upside down and steps on it. Then she uses it as a mounting block. She hangs onto the string and once she's on my back, she pulls up the bucket, rides me over near the fence and drops the bucket outside. It's a good system.
She started out just walking me around and around and around and once I was loosened up, she asked me to trot. I hesitated just a little bit and she asked again and I did it. Then she had me go the other way. Well, that's the way that I tend to resist more. I don't know why. I'm just used to it. So she asked me to trot and I started drifting to the center and she straightened me out and asked again and I trotted.
Well, she just kept making me walk then making me trot, then making me walk then making me trot. We'd walk about three paces then a trot. And we'd trot about five paces and then a walk. I got sick of giving her a hard time pretty quick - it wasn't worth it - and then I kind of forgot about it entirely. I just got in the rhythm of doing it.
She did ask me to canter a couple of times and I wanted to but I didn't feel comfortable about it. It's not easy to canter in that Round Pen. It's so small and my balance just doesn't feel quite right in there. I like to have a little more room. So I just trotted really fast and just couldn't seem to make myself canter. She pulled me up and told me it was okay - I think she knew what I was feeling. She wasn't mad.
We worked in there for a good bit. I got pretty sweaty. Mom was happy though because I'd behaved myself. She got off and led me out but then she brought me to the mounting block and got on again so we could do a poop loop. I didn't mind. It felt good to be able to really stretch my legs after being in that cramped little Round Pen.
We rode up the hill by the pasture and when we got to the top, we saw one of my mom's friends on his horse. I don't know his horse's name - he's a nice Paint with kind of fancy gaits. Mom let me stop while she talked to her friend and the horse and I kind of nodded to each other. We don't really know each other well enough to chat but he's nice enough. I was a Good Girl while they talked. I just stood quietly with my reins loose on my neck and I didn't try to whuffle on the ground or anything. I'm learning.
When my mom was done talking, she gathered up my reins and asked me to go on and I did. I was a little sloppy at first because I wanted to see if the other horse was following behind but she told me to just go on and I did and eventually forgot about him. Mom is getting really picky now about me going straight and not drifting. She uses her reins and her legs and somehow I can't wiggle very well and it's just easier to go the way she wants me to. I only drift because I like to look around but she keeps me working so hard I can't look around very well. It's okay. It's my job.
We went down the hill near my old barn and saw Misty and her mom. Misty was tied up outside her stall and her mom was giving her some hay out of a bag. I'd seen her earlier when she and her mom rode past my barn and talked to my mom so I stopped at her barn so my mom could talk to hers. I also thought maybe she'd give me some hay but she didn't. Mom made me keep going though. I guess she didn't want to visit. She just said hello real quick and we continued down the hill.
Then we went past the Little Rolling Arena and when we came around a corner, there was a woman on a horse stopped in the road talking to Spencer's mom who was walking without Spencer. I walked right past really nicely without stopping and Mom was happy with me for that because I often do stop when we meet other horses. I always want to say hello to them but I was trying to be good. This time it was nice though because Spencer's mom finished talking and then the other horse rode along with us!
I like to ride with other horses. Mostly I just do it with Spark and while I love Spark and love riding with him, it's exciting to ride with another horse. This was a pretty bay mare like me only instead of being tall and leggy like me, she was more round like Spark. Mom told me later that she's a Morgan. I'd seen her before - she was one of the horses that was in the Gremlin Arena that time when Sparky fell down.
She was a very well behaved horse and just gave me a quick and quiet hello then kept walking nicely straight ahead while I kind of walked along sideways trying to look at her. Mom gently straightened me out and I did better and tried to walk like she was. I didn't want my mom to be embarrassed by my behavior. The other rider asked my mom nicely how I was doing and Mom told her I was coming along really well. That made me feel good. We rode with them all the way to my barn and then my mom said she was going to stop there and told the other lady, "Have a nice ride." The mare nodded goodbye to me and nodded back and then Mom got off and petted me and told me I was a Very Good Girl.
So it ended up being a good day. Mom hosed me off really good and I had a nice fresh bed to go to. She gave me my cookie and my bucket dinner and now I'm pretty comfortable except for that dark empty stall next to me. I sure hope another horse moves in soon.
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