Mom and I rode today and it was lots of fun. It didn't start out that way. I was cranky when she got here because I wanted my hay snack. Plus my stall was pretty messy and I didn't really have any clean shavings. I just wanted to do something because we hadn't done much of anything yesterday so everything made me mad. Us Thoroughbreds like to keep busy. We don't much like having too much time off.
Mom opened my door and said hello to me, then she said "face" which I know means I'm supposed to pick up my head so she can put on my halter. I was impatient but I know enough to wait until she says it's time to come out. One time when I was still sort of a baby I pushed so hard on my stall chain that I broke the string it's attached to. Mom didn't like that a bit. It's not Manners to be so pushy and boisterous so now I wait. Sometimes it's hard though.
Finally she got my halter on and brought me out and she reached into the wheelbarrow and instead of a bag with hay in it, she brought out my bucket dinner! I was surprised. Normally I don't get my bucket dinner until after we ride. I wasn't going to complain though. She hooked it on the window and instead of me eating at my window inside my stall, I got to eat at my window outside of it. It was kind of fun. I've eaten like that once or twice before but it always seems sort of special.
Mom cleaned up my stall which didn't take long at all because there was nothing left but dirty shavings. My paddock isn't too bad to clean because I generally try to poop in one general area. I admit my stall gets bad though. I can't seem to keep it clean. The guys had brought a new bag of shavings this morning though so Mom was able to put down a new bed. I was happy to see that.
By the time she was done, I had finished my bucket dinner and she brushed me real well and put on my riding duds. She's been putting my bell boots on lately as well as my leg boots. That's okay. I don't mind them. As long as I don't have to wear my back leg boots, I'm all right. Those back ones feel really funny to me though. Mom makes me wear them when she turns me out in the winter because I do fast stops by the fence and when it's muddy, I tend to slide. She thinks it keeps me from hurting my back ankles and legs and she's probably right. But they sure feel weird.
Finally, it was time to put my bridle on. We were standing right by my stall door and for some reason when she took my halter off, I decided to go into it. I don't know why. Normally, I stand still like a Good Girl while she puts it on but I was just in a mood, I guess. I started walking into my stall and when she pulled on the rein around my neck, I got even sillier and rushed out into my paddock. Mom wasn't particularly happy with that but she just put my bridle on in my paddock and that's when I remembered that I have a new bit!
I really do like it. It tastes nice and the rollers are so fun to play with. I just kind of gently mouth them and they go around and around. It makes me feel good and kind of calms me down. As soon as it went into my mouth, I started playing with it and I was happy to go out to the mounting block and get going.
We rode in the Flat Arena today which was nice. There was no one else in it for one thing. I do kind of prefer to work alone because I get so distracted when other horses are around. I try to pay attention to Mom but I really want to see what they're doing and try to catch a good sniff of them. It's really hard to concentrate like that. But today I was able to really focus and that was good.
Mom walked me around a bunch to warm up first. She always does that. It's nice because when you live in a stall, you need that time to get your blood moving. It also helps the saddle settle in on your back and gives you a chance to get your mind all ready for work. I don't think I'd like it if we just got right to it as soon as I came out of my stall. Mom lets me start out on a nice long rein so I can stretch my neck out and down and work any kinks out. Then after a while, she starts gently gathering them up and I know it's time to begin really working. And by then I'm ready to.
Today after we were warmed up, she asked me for a trot and we went around a couple of times at a pretty fast pace. I was feeling good and wanted to go so my head was up and I was kind of pulling a bit. Mom just kept reminding me that we were trotting and after a couple of times around, she started making the loops of a figure 8.
I like figure 8's. They make it a lot more interesting because you no sooner get used to going in one direction and you change and go in the other. I was still pretty spunky through the first couple but pretty soon I settled down and started paying more attention. The arena had been freshly raked pretty recently - they do that with a truck and a special trailer - and only one other horse had been in there. That horse had done some circles over and over and you could clearly see his tracks in the soft dirt. He'd done one big circle close to the middle of the arena and another one right next to it on the far end. So when we began doing figure 8's, Mom had me follow those tracks.
That was fun. I could tell what she wanted me to do and every time I went around my circles got better. I was following the tracks very closely and as I kept going, I could feel myself relaxing into the movement. My body was sort of bending around as I went one way and then when we changed to go the other way, it just bent easily in the other direction. My new bit was also really nice. Mom's hands felt very soft and I could tell immediately what she was asking me. Because it was so comfortable in my mouth, I kept kind of reaching for it and without even realizing it, I found myself sort of bending lengthways too. I can't really explain it very well but it felt like my back kind of rounded up a bit and my trot got smoother with my hind legs really reaching under my belly. That bit sat lightly in my mouth and Mom's hands felt like they were right at the corners of it instead of way back at the end of the reins. It was a pretty neat feeling and I think it might be that "contact" thing that Kia tried to explain to me once. I liked it. I felt very balanced and graceful.
It was a little tiring though. We did some good solid work for about 20 minutes or so at a trot and then Mom asked me to walk and let me stretch my neck a bit. Then she took me out for a poop loop to relax. I was feeling very happy because I knew I'd been good. I stepped right out and we had a good ride around the farm without me drifting or being sassy at all. Mom was really happy with me, I could tell.
We went past Misty's barn, and my old barn, and as we were coming down the hill towards the Rolling Arena, I saw Indian! He was in a different stall, the stall Beau used to be in as a matter of fact. Beau left at the same time that Kia did which isn't surprising as they're part of the same family. I hadn't really thought about Beau for a while. I realized that when I saw Indian. He was handsome and nice but he was never around and I've decided that Chip is a lot nicer. He nickers and whinnies to me all the time, and he's always ready to sniff noses and be sweet while Beau was kind of shy. Chip's more my type.
Anyway, we stopped to visit and Indian's mom said he was all better from his snake bite which I was glad to hear. She wanted to know if I could go out for a turnout with him soon so my mom suggested we do it on Wednesday. That will be fun. I'm glad Indian has a nice new stall. This one has a lot bigger paddock than his old one and the inside part is nicer too. Hopefully there are no snakes in this one.
My alfalfa had arrived while we were riding and I had a hard time holding still while Mom got my duds off. But finally it was done and she took me in and got my halter off. She made me stand still while she was doing it and I did, even though I wanted so badly to just dive into that hay! I'm learning.
But it was a good day. I felt like a real riding horse there for a while and that was pretty neat. My mom was happy with me and I always like that. And I have a new bed to sleep in tonight.
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