What a nice day today, huh? GORGEOUS! I was so excited to get out to the barn to ride in this weather and had a head full of ideas of trailriding. Pfffftt...that went out the barn door when I got Skate in the cross ties and his eyes were bugging out at invisible monsters. He just knew there was something in the indoor arena behind him and he couldn't relax.
After trying not to lose my head and go postal on him for being an idiot in the barn, we finally made it out to the outside ring to re-establish some sense in that little noggin of his. I hopped on after deciding lunging wasn't worth the effort and realized he was going to be like riding a freaking powder keg today. Yay!
Well, the good news is, I was totally able to channel that bad boy energy into an EXCELLENT workout. I worked his little red butt up one end and down the other end of that arena until he begged for a stretching walk on a loose rein. I packed a whole hour full of transitions within gaits, spirals in/out, and serpentines. He started the ride like a total drama llama - as hollow of a horse as I have ever ridden. It was almost ridiculous how I had nothing to sit on. I spent the entire ride focused solely on keeping him so on my aids he that had no chance to carry out his original intentions of acting a fool. I realized I have him super responsive to my leg now - our spirals in have turned into more of a big circle - whoosh - little circle wondering what the heck happened to get us all the way into this tiny circle so quickly! I need to work on moving in/out only a body's width each lap! I remember the day when I couldn't get him connected to my outside rein and would nearly have to get off and push him in to get to a smaller circle. He felt wonderful today...like a much bigger horse and completely taking up my leg b/c he was actually using his back and hind end.
So, although he was quite the hot potato today, I felt really good about our ride and am so ready for this weather to stick around so we can get back to work. Plus, I am really proud of myself for figuring out what to do with all that energy and turning what could have been a horribly frustrating ride into one of my best yet.
I hope everyone else got to ride this weekend and enjoy the weather - Now lets hear about those rides!
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6 comments:
Skate has improved so much! Sorry you could take him out on the trail. We want to see more pics and videos of his improvements.
No riding (I briefly considered it, but I'm in Asheville on vacation and didn't figure I could convince my husband it was worth $60 or whatever Builtmore charges to go on a boring trail ride anyway....).
Sounds like you had an awesome ride. And if we're supposed to measure progress within the ride rather than between rides, it sounds like you made amazing progress. Good job! Weird that he freaked when the weather turned so nice.
LMAO @ "drama llama." I am glad you had such a productive ride, it was perfect weather for it this weekend!
Sounds awesome!!! It's such a great feeling when you can successfully channel bad energy into positive energy. Those chestnuts are just SO naughty sometimes. ;)
They do end up surprising us in weird ways sometimes!
Sounds like a GREAT ride! Its great that you were able to channel all that energy of his!
I am SO glad you had such a good ride! Good for you for channeling all that energy and what could have been a negative into such a super strong POSITIVE!
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