Lately I've been thinking about what kind of stuff I want to do with my mom when I'm all better again. Horses have Jobs, you know. It's not just carrying your person around - there are different types of riding that people like to do with horses. I've heard my mom talk about it. Sometimes her friends will ask her what she wants to do with me and she usually says that she wants a nice trail horse and that beyond that she'll see what I like to do. So I've been thinking about that.
I've learned a lot about that sort of thing since last year when I was just four. I was kind of a baby then and didn't really understand much. I learned a lot from Kia, and from Sparky, and from Mickey. All of them are a lot more experienced than me. I still don't know everything of course, but I'm learning.
Micky is a Western horse mostly. That means he wears a different kind of saddle than I do, one that's bigger and heavier. When I lived with the girl who took me from the track and then sold me to my mom, she rode me with a Western saddle. It was okay. It was big and heavy but it didn't feel bad or hurt or anything. It was pretty comfortable. Spark told me he's worn one before and he felt the same way. It's just another kind of riding.
I've seen Mickey and his mom riding in the Flat Arena. Mickey does a lot of Western Pleasure. That's when you go really slow all the time. When he canters, you can hardly tell he's cantering. I could beat him back to the barn at a walk when he's cantering like that. He says that's what the Judges want. Well, I don't know what Judges are but I like to go fast and that just looks stupid to me. I didn't say that to Mickey though. It's hard enough to get him to talk to me without getting all grumpy.
He said that Western horses do lots of different things. Some of them chase cows. That sounds a little more fun but both Kia and Sparky told me cows are scary. I mentioned to Mickey that Kia was afraid of cows and he just snorted. "Kia!" he said kind of nastily. "She was an English horse." The way he said English made it sound like an insult and I was kind of irritated but Kia's gone now so it doesn't really matter what Mickey thinks.
"Spark said so too though," I pointed out and he just muttered, "Oh, Sparky!" like it was a bad word. I got mad then and bit him and then kicked at the fence and went to talk to Cocoa. Stupid Mickey!
I think there are other things Western horse do besides chase cows and do Western Pleasure. I've seen lots of horses on the farm in Western saddles and they weren't going slow and they looked pretty happy. So maybe it would be all right but I don't know much about it.
Kia did Eventing. I'm not really sure what that means but she said she does Dressage and Jumping. Jumping is when you go over fences instead of through gates or around them. I found out from Spark that all the little fences in the Little Fence Arena are actually jumps for horses to jump over. Well, that makes a little more sense I guess than just having fences all over the place. I don't really know why you'd bother to jump over something when you could just go around it but Spark says it's fun. He says he's jumped a few times over smallish jumps and he likes it a lot. He says it's exciting and makes him feel all wild and stuff. Plus you get to go kind of fast so you can get some momentum going. I do like to go fast and I like things that are exciting so maybe I'd like Jumping. I don't know. I did jump one of those fences once by accident when I was turned out. I was running and there it was right in front of me so I just jumped without really thinking about it. And I have to say, it was pretty exciting and kind of fun. I don't know if I could do it with my mom on my back though.
Dressage is different. Kia used to try to explain it to me but it didn't make a lot of sense then. Now that I'm a little older and learning more things though I think I understand it better. Dressage is when you have to do exactly what your mom tells you to when you're riding in the Flat Arena. Like if she tells you to trot, you have to trot right away. And if she tells you to turn, or go in a circle, or walk or something, you have to do that. But it's not like regular everyday riding work. You have to be perfect at everything, and extra good, and you have to be all balanced and pretty looking. I used to watch Kia - she always looked so fancy out there, all collected up and stuff.
I used to think all that work in the arena was dumb. I didn't really like doing it. But once I learned the boring stuff like staying on the rail and not slowing down and speeding up all the time, it got more interesting. I kind of like it now because we do a lot of different stuff and every time I think I know what my mom is going to ask for, she changes it and takes me by surprise. I like surprises. They're fun.
So of all those things, I think I might like to do Dressage. I like to look pretty, after all, and it's sort of like learning my tricks. Kia used to do some of the tricks I do with my mom when her mom rode her. I saw her do pivots and things, and sidepasses. I've never done those things with my mom on my back but I bet I could. They're easy and they're fun. So maybe my mom will let me be a Dressage horse. That would be nice.
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