Having received a day off on Monday (not a typical day that I get off for a vacation day), we wanted to see if we might be able to sneak in some time for a ride. Our son still had school, but Sarah and I wanted to take advantage of the time we had to get out in the nice weather and out to the barn. I made a quick call, and it didn’t look like anyone would be out early enough for us to make it out and ride before we had to pick up Gabe from school. Fortunately though, we received a call from Capricorn that indeed someone had made it out to the barn and we could come out and ride.
When we arrived at the barn, none of the horses were in and we had to go out and pick up the boys (Vegas and Tio – who are actually brothers) out in the field. All of the horses were at the round bales, so we didn’t have to go very far to get them. Of course, one of the other horses who loves to come in met us half way and then stuck to me like glue. We haltered Vegas and Tio and headed in. I had to keep Colonel at bay to keep him from walking with me through the gate, but all of the horses would be coming in soon enough to be fed anyways – so I didn’t feel too bad about leaving Colonel out there.
We’ve had a bit of rain lately and the path through the gate is quite muddy. The horses all have mud up their legs (I call it clay boots) and it really irritates their skin. Our soil around here is clay and it doesn’t take much rain to make a big clay mess. That being said, Sarah and I took the horses over to wash them up a bit and knock off the clay around their feet. Vegas was a real trooper and stood fine with me holding him while Sarah washed his feet. Tio was another story…. Tio does not like to have his feet washed and was a bit jumpy. We stuck with it though and got him cleaned up.
After grooming and tacking up, we only had about 40 minutes of ride time. Sarah had forgotten to put her spurs on and she really had to work with Tio to get him moving. It was good for her to see how far she’s progressed in using her seat and leg pressure to ride. In fact, she’s going to be riding without spurs more often to keep her riding development going (without having to rely on the spurs). She did great, but did end up going to get her spurs for about the last 15 minutes of our ride. Vegas and I had an ok ride, but he was reluctant to backing for some reason. I worked on my seat during the ride, but really just wanted to enjoy the time I had.
Last night, we got to go out to Capricorn again. Of course, the horses were a mess again, but not nearly as bad as the previous day. Barbara was there before us and had cleaned up Harry. However, Harry had a bit of a limp going on, so Barbara let him be and selected a different horse to ride (Booger). Sarah and I were with Vegas and Tio – as usual. The kids class that ends just before we ride on Tuesday had used both Vegas and Tio, but neither of the horses had really worked and had just a bit of attitude. Apparently, Alex had mentioned to Sarah that she wanted Sarah to really work Tio and to canter him for the rest of the night…, and did she ever. Sarah had Tio going from the first minute on. It was really neat to see Sarah getting Tio going as I remember that when we first started riding, it was difficult to get any of the horses moving at a canter (our lack of experience – not the horses).
I guess Sarah really found Tio’s “go button” because after some time cantering, Tio through down the gauntlet and said… ok, you want to go, let’s go and he took off at a gallop. Sarah handled him well and fell into her experience and rode it out. Chad had everyone else stop while Sarah brought Tio down to a trot and then a stop. Chad had Sarah back Tio up a bit and then had her go back to trotting. Sarah stayed with the trot the rest of the night.
I worked with Vegas on frame and collection. I am developing my thigh muscles and using them to drive Vegas forward while maintaining the collection. I have to get to the point where I am not managing the horse, but maintaining myself. I had some brief moments where everything was correct, me with my riding position and Vegas managing his own collection based on my position. I know I need to practice my body position and cueing more, but I will get there.
So, it’s been a nice couple of days. Sarah can hardly stop talking about her ride and is excited about riding more. I look forward to riding more as well and furthering my experience.
Thanks for stopping by – talk to you later,
