It's getting cooler these days. I like that. The flies don't bother me so much and the air smells so fresh and interesting. I have more energy, too. Lazy summer days are nice but I love this time of year. It hasn't started raining yet and it's not cold, but it's not hot either. It makes me feel frisky.
I was frisky yesterday. The day before, I didn't get out at all so when Mom got to the barn I was ready to go. She knew it too and cleaned my stall very fast. Then she put my chain lead on and took me to the Pony Arena for a turnout. It was actually pretty smart of her to put my chain lead on because I was so frisky and excited I could barely contain myself. The wind was blowing hard and it was cool and fresh, I could smell all kinds of stuff in the air but I couldn't hear things very well because of the wind. That's a little scary for a horse. We need to be able to hear things to keep us out of danger. I wasn't really scared but it did make me a lot more excited.
Well, I danced all the way to the arena. Raz's dad had given me some carrot while Mom was cleaning and he asked if I liked to run around when I was turned out. Mom told him I did and said she thought I'd probably be running a lot because of the wind so he decided to come watch. I like Raz's dad. He always says hello to me and gives me pieces of carrot lots of times. That's nice. All the people in our barn are nice to each other's horses and feed them treats and pet them and stuff. I think that's how it should be when you're neighbors.
Mom and I walked to the arena but Raz's dad drove down in his car. By the time we got there, I was so ready to run that I could barely stand still while Mom got my lead off. As soon as she did, I took off across the arena, bucking and playing and galloping! I raced back and forth between the gate at the front and the one where we'd come in. I do that sometimes. I get so excited that I forget that I could run in circles and I keep going back and forth and sliding to a stop every time I come to the gate. Mom doesn't really like it because she's afraid I'll get hurt and in the winter she puts extra boots on my back legs so when I slide in the mud, I don't scuff them.
She let me race around a bit then she came in with her whip and reminded me to go in circles. That was fun! I ran and ran, and I bucked a lot too. I felt so good! And the wind was exciting and the cool air made me so frisky! Raz's dad seemed to like watching me go so fast but he didn't like how I stop at the gate either. One time I got a little too close and rapped the fence hard with my knee. It didn't hurt though - I just kept going.
After a while, I stopped running and went over to Mom to visit. I was still pretty riled up, my head was up really high and my nostrils were all wide open. I was even snorting. Raz's dad came in the arena then and pet me and gave me a piece of carrot. Then he asked me to back up so I did. I know how to do that and I thought maybe he'd give me more carrot and I was right. Then he asked me to come back forward and I did that too. I know how to do lots of stuff now that I'm five.
He left finally and I ran around a bit more and then Mom took me home. I got pretty excited again when we left and I started dancing in the place where the cars all park. I heard something funny or maybe it was leaves skittering across the road in the wind but it startled me and I bounced and that made me slip on the hard stuff the road is made out of there and that excited me even more so I bounced more and then Mom yanked on my chain just a little and told me to stop being so foolish so I settled down. It was a lot of fun though and my alfalfa was waiting for me when we got to my stall.
Today was windy too. Mom cleaned me out and then started getting me ready to ride. I was happy about that but I was impatient and wanted to get going. It seemed like it took her forever but that was because she put my pretty beads on me today. I have a beautiful string of beads I wear around my neck sometimes when we ride. They have little jingly bells on them and make pretty noises when I move. They're red like my saddle pad and my boots so I match and they make me feel special and pretty. I love my beads.
When I was all ready we got going. We started riding along the road and soon we met my old neighbor Lily and her mom. We rode with them for a little bit but then my mom made me turn off so we could go to the Little Fence Arena. I wasn't sure about that. I haven't been in that arena for a while and with the wind and everything, I felt a little apprehensive. I had to stop and sniff Mom's boot a couple of times before I'd go in but finally I did and we started riding around. Right after we got in there, my old neighbor Polano and his mom came in. His mom is kind of small - I think she must be young.
Anyway, I was just a bundle of nerves. I was frisky and excited and bouncy about the wind and the arena and everything. I just wanted to run and play but Mom was asking me to walk nicely. It was hard! I felt like I was walking on my toes and I kept sort of dancing sideways and trying to bounce. Mom just sat deep and breathed and told me it was okay and that I needed to walk. I'd settle down for a few strides but then the wind would pick up, or I'd hear a strange sound, or I'd see a branch shaking and I'd get all nerved up again.
I finally managed to start actually walking and Mom was happy with that. Then she asked me for a trot and I nearly burst at the seams as I leaped into it. She checked me, and made me stay at a normal trot instead of the fast, bouncing one I'd started with but I was pulling hard and really trying to go. I just couldn't help it. Mom just kept riding the way she had been, quiet and deep, giving me little checks every so often - she calls them half-halts - to keep me paying attention. I'd just get going and she'd change my direction or ask me to trot between some little fences or move me into a circle so I had to kind of stay on my toes and couldn't get rolling along as fast as I wanted to. She's sneaky that way.
Finally it all got to be too much for me. We were trotting down the long side and I just suddenly exploded! I jammed my front feet into the dirt, bounced into a half-rear and then jumped all four feet off the ground in a giant buck! Oh, it felt good! When I hit the ground, I had a little more rein than I'd had before so I was able to get my head down more and went into an even bigger buck. I even got a good twist in it, just to let out a bunch of that energy I'd been keeping contained.
Mom had lost a stirrup on the first buck but she was perfectly steady in the saddle so I knew she wasn't going anywhere. I wasn't trying to get her off anyway - I just wanted to let off some steam. I landed from the second buck and went into a rear. When I hit ground, I was able to go back up into another one and that one was even higher. That was so fun and so exciting and felt so good that I went up again, up and up and up, pawing and reaching for the sky! I felt like a wild horse with the wind in my mane and not a care in the world.
Mom was leaning forward when I reared the first and second time but when I went up the third time, she leaned way forward and pushed on my neck and as soon as I came down from that one, she pulled my head around so I couldn't go up again, made the Bad Girl sound very loudly and smacked me on the neck with her stick. And then she asked me to trot again!
Oh, I was mad! Here I'd been, all wild and full of frustration and she was just acting like I'd done nothing more exciting than drifting off the rail or something! I laid my ears back and swished my tail but she just smacked me again and told me to trot so I trotted. But it was a pretty ugly trot.
Well, the long and the short of it is that she just kept riding me and making me do what she wanted to do and in the end, I was trotting around that arena pretty well. And it actually did feel good - a nice trot is good exercise and gets your muscles going. I just wanted to run and buck is all. But you can't do that with your mom on your back. I do know that but sometimes I get riled up and I forget.
By the time we were done, I was hot and sweaty and foamy but I felt great! I was still pretty wound up and excited so Mom got off me and led me home with my girth loosened to cool me off. She wasn't mad at me either. As usual, she seemed to understand what I was feeling. I love my mom. I'd feel really bad if I made her fall off when I do things like that but if she didn't fall off today, I don't think she's going to.
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