Work

So today Mom saddled me up but instead of getting right on me, she brought me to the Round Pen and lunged me in my tack. That was different. She's done that once or twice before but today she really worked me. I know it's because I wasn't that good yesterday and she wanted to make sure I was doing what she asked me to. So she had me walk and trot and canter and then back to a trot then a canter then a trot then a walk.... She kept asking for different things and I had to do them.

I didn't mind. I like to lunge most of the time and it felt good to work. She was pretty strict with me though. One time I bucked a little when I started to canter and she made the Bad Girl noise at me. And another time, she asked me to trot and I cantered and she twitched the lunge line on my bit and said, "Trot!" so I went down to a trot. I guess I have to behave myself.

It was a good lunging session and when we were done, she got on and rode me. We rode for a little bit in the Flat Arena and she had me go from a walk to a trot then back to a walk again a bunch of time. It was fun though because we were doing circles and figure 8's and different changes of direction and that always makes it interesting. I tried to be a really Good Girl and didn't try to take off or buck or canter or anything. I was a little disappointed that we didn't canter but I know she's trying to hammer it into my head that I have to do what she asks me to. Besides, it was awfully hot.

We didn't work too long in the Flat Arena. Pretty soon, Mom brought me out and we did a couple of poop loops. She changed it a little bit too which was interesting. Instead of going up the road by the pasture, she rode me across the grass on the hillside. That was strange. I kept stopping and trying to reach down to get a bite but she wouldn't let me and told me I had to keep going even if we were in grass. That was hard to do.

Then we continued up the hill toward the barn I used to live in. By the time we reached the top, I was breathing kind of heavy. I'd done kind of a lot of work and it was very hot. Mom knew I was feeling it so she let me rest a bit then she rode me down the hill on the other side and instead of turning back toward our barn, she continued on toward the Pony Arena.

I got kind of excited as soon as we turned toward it. I remembered the last time I was there, when I got loose and ran around. It made me feel pretty bouncy and I'm afraid I tried to bolt just a little bit but Mom was ready for me and wouldn't let me. She rode me to the water trough and that's when I realized why we were there - she thought I might want a drink. I did, too and I stuck my head in and got a nice big one and played a little bit. It felt so good to get wet and to take a drink. Mom makes me work pretty hard but she does understand what I need.

I was still pretty bouncy when I finished up and I sort of danced on tip-toe through the hay barn. I could hear some noises on the other side of the wall and it made me feel kind of nervous and funny. I didn't know what might happen when I came out the other side and I was ready to take off and run. But all there was when we got there was a man leading another horse so after just a little bit of a jump (because they sort of seemed to come out of nowhere), I was okay. Mom felt me relax and she let out my rein and we walked on towards the barn.

She took me around again but I felt a lot better after having that drink so I walked the whole circuit without any problem. She did get after me about walking straight - I do tend to wander from side to side but that's just because I'm always trying to look at things and it's hard to look without kind of moving in the direction of what you're looking at. Mom says I'd walk off a cliff if I saw something interesting in that direction.

Walking along like that on a loose rein is a nice way to cool down after a ride so by the time we reached the barn the second time around, I was mostly cooled off. I was still pretty sweaty though so she unsaddled me and hosed me off before putting me in my stall. But I got an extra treat in my bucket dinner because she put some apple in there along with my usual carrot. It was a good day. Hard work but fun.