Yesterday my mom came out pretty late. I'd already finished my dinner hay and was just snoozing in my paddock when I heard her car. As always, that made me happy and I let out a big whinny of greeting. She got me out of my stall and tied me in the aisle the way she does and brought the wheeled bucket thing so she could clean.It was nice and quiet at the barn. Not many people come out once it starts getting dark and it was about twilight when she began on my stall. I love that time of day. The sky is all soft and dusky and the stars are just starting to come out. The air is cooling down and it smells so good. Lots of times the coyotes that live up in the hills and out in the pasture start to sing. That's a nice sound. First one will yip a few times and then they'll all join in and pretty soon it's a whole chorus of happy voices howling. Sometimes they have babies and the babies sound cute - they kind of bark rather than howl and it's high-pitched so you can tell they're just small. I like that. Coyotes are just friends to us horses. They eat little animals like bunnies and squirrels - which is sad for the bunnies and squirrels but the coyotes have to eat too. One time when my mom and I were riding in the Flat Arena a coyote was in there with us just sniffing around and not really paying a lot of attention to what we were doing. I like to share my home with other animals.
Anyway, when my mom finished cleaning she took me for a walk. We didn't go far but it was really pleasant. By then, it was almost completely dark but the sky was clear and the light of the stars and moon were enough to see very well. My mom took me toward the Little Rolling Arena but before we got there, we turned down a little side track that leads to one of the barns. It's not like the other barns like the one where I live. It's set apart from the others and only has two stalls. Also it has a room on the side of it which our barn doesn't. I always kind of wondered about that barn but last night I found out it's where the Vaulting Horses live sometimes. Not always; most of the time they live in a big field like a pasture but once in a while they go in those stalls. That's kind of funny because all us other horses have either a pasture or a stall, not both. I guess Vaulting Horses are special.
I suppose I should explain just what a Vaulting Horse is. Remember how I've mentioned the big horses that go around and around in circles in the Little Rolling Arena while kids jump on and off them and do tricks on their backs? Those are the Vaulting Horses. They have to be big I suppose, so they can carry all those kids - sometimes there are three or four kids on their backs at one time! I don't think I'd like that. It's hard enough just carrying my mom around. I can't imagine having lots of people on me, even kids.Last night, the Vaulting Horses were all in their field and they were mostly standing in their little shelter thing where their dinner hay goes. My mom brought me down near that barn and over to the door to the room. I was kind of jumpy and nervous at first because I didn't know why I was there. I was kind of afraid my mom might put me in one of those stalls and I didn't like that idea at all. There weren't any neighbors for me to talk to, and no duds closet, or food, or ball toy. There wasn't even a paddock. But my mom didn't even look at the stalls; she just brought me over to that door and told me I could put my head down. And when I did, I realized the ground was covered with grass hay!
Well, that was a treat! There had to be at least half a flake of good hay scattered around outside that door. I guess the people who get it out of the room (because that's what's in there, I found out later) are pretty careless and don't have horses that clean up after them like me and Spark do. I was glad to clean it up though and my mom let me. We stayed there for a long time and my mom just stood there quietly with me, with her hand on my back. It was very nice. By the time we went back home, I was nice and full and ready for a good night's sleep.
Today we worked. My mom came out at the usual time and began grooming me right away. The hay truck came while she was doing it and she let me have a little bit of my dinner for a snack but she put most of it aside for me to eat later. That used to make me really anxious and upset but now it doesn't bother me hardly at all. I know she'll give it to me and I know she won't let anyone else take it or eat it. I didn't even try to get it when she took my halter off so she could put my bridle on. I just stood there and opened my mouth up politely for my bit. I'm a Good Girl now that I'm six.
My mom led me out to the Flat Arena like she always does and took me over to the Mounting Block. There was a lady sitting in a chair nearby yelling at some kid on a horse in the arena and a car parked right next to the Mounting Block. There was just a narrow space for me to stand but my mom led me right over to it anyway and got on. The other lady asked if she needed to move her car but my mom said she didn't and then asked me to back up. Well, I know how to back up really well so I did. I took a whole bunch of steps back until I was clear of the car and then turned and went around it when my mom asked. The lady was impressed - I could tell. She told my mom that I'd backed up really nicely. My mom was happy about that and proud of me. That was nice.
I thought we'd work in the Flat Arena like we usually do but instead my mom took me out on the road so I figured we were doing a Poop Loop. That was okay. I like Poop Loops and we hadn't done one in a while. I stepped right out and headed down the road, occasionally trying to reach a stray bit of grass or brush that was sticking out of the hillside. My mom didn't let me get any but it never hurts to try.
When we got to the Rolling Arena, I could see that there were a lot of horses in it. The Rolling Arena always kind of fascinates me. It's sort of scary - it's big, and it has a roof, and there's usually lots of stuff going on there. The birds like to fly around and land on the roof and that makes noise, and there's a building just below it that they call the Winery and sometimes the guys are working there making lots of strange clanging noises. That's weird, especially because there are bushes and things growing along the side so you can't see clearly - you just get glimpses of stuff so one minute you just see a bush and the next, there's a horse walking along down there, or a big truck, or some guys pushing a barrel. You never know what you'll see and that makes it pretty exciting.
I always look into the Rolling Arena when we go by, half wanting to go in and see what it's like. Well, today we did go in. It took me by surprise. I was all ready to walk by the gate even though I was looking in, when my mom nudged me with her seat and directed me inside! I was immediately a little tense. There were a bunch of little trees in big boxes all along the short end where I'd entered and they hadn't been there the last time I was in the arena so that made me feel funny right off the bat. There were a bunch of horses ridden by little kids at the far end, and Mickey's mom was standing in the middle of the circle they were making telling them what to do. I knew what that meant - they were having a Lesson. Lots of horses have Lessons at our barn. Even Sparky goes to Lessons now, with Coco's old mom. He says it's fun but hard.
At our end, there were two other horses working. One was a big gray gelding I've seen around quite a bit. He's handsome and nice, and his mom often rides him in the Flat Arena so we kind of know each other. The other was a gray mare I'm not familiar with. The gelding was doing some trot work and he was really focused on it. His mom had him doing circles and figure 8's at the trot and he was very collected and looked great. The mare was cantering.It was pretty exciting to be in the middle of all that. I almost forgot my Manners for a minute and let out the beginning of a bounce but my mom caught it before it became anything more than that. She quietly made the Bad Girl noise and I remembered I had to behave. After that, I just walked nicely but I was looking at everything. We only went around a few times and then my mom petted me and told me I was very Good and we left. She let me sniff those trees really thoroughly first though.
Then we continued our Poop Loop. By the time we got back to our barn, the Flat Arena was empty again so my mom took me out there. I was a little mad at first because I thought we should be done but then she asked me to start trotting and I forgot to be mad. I'm getting so I really like trotting. For one thing, I love my saddle. It's so comfortable that it makes it a lot nicer to move. For another, I'm getting better at it and it's always more fun to do things you're good at. Once I get warmed up, I start feeling nice and relaxed and i just put my head down and reach for my bit and go. I can tell my mom likes it - she tells me so for one thing but I can also feel it in her seat and hands. When my head is fussy and I'm pulling and stuff, she has to really work to keep me at the right pace but once I settle down, her hands get nice and quiet and giving and I can barely feel her on my back because we're just moving together. It's nice.
We did some big circuits of the arena and some figure 8's and then as my mom rode me up the long side, she gave me a new signal. I'm not sure I can describe it but she moved her seat so that I could tell she wanted me to go up and across at the same time. It wasn't like when she wants me to change direction - then I just head straight for the other side but on a diagonal line across. This time she wanted something else and as she nudged me with her leg, I just started moving in the direction she was heading me in with my body kind of bent but my legs crossing over each other as I trotted kind of forward and sideways at the same time. I wasn't sure if that's what she wanted but as soon as I started doing it, I could tell that it was. Her seat was light and she just kept an open leading rein on the side I was moving toward while her other leg gently continued nudging. I just kept going across that arena and the further I got, the happier I could feel her getting.
I knew I was doing something special and I got kind of pleased about it too. It was fun! I felt kind of like Kia as I did it - I used to watch her doing fancy stuff all the time and now I was doing it! It was hard work though. I got most of the way across the arena but toward the end, I could feel myself losing my balance a little bit and getting sloppy. Still, my mom was really proud of me; once we straightened out, she asked me to walk and turned me right down the center of the arena - she calls it Going Down the Center Line. After going practically sideways, going straight was easy so I marched right down as straight as an arrow and then stopped quietly when she asked me to. She slid off my back then and petted me and made a fuss over me. She was really happy with me and that made me feel good.
After she unsaddled me, she led me back out to the arena to roll and I had a really good one! Then she hosed me off with the special hose that feels like rain. I like that hose, especially when she lets it play over my face. I got all nice and wet and cooled off, then I got to eat more hay while she cleaned. So it was a good day and I learned another trick. Now I'm ready to stand out in my paddock and enjoy the night air. It's been a long and busy day.
No comments:
Post a Comment