Mondays with Morgan, Majesty, AND Rhulain

1.80 miles - 40 minutes - Majesty
1.59 miles - 30 minutes - Morgan
0.75 miles - 26 minutes - Rhulain

 I went outside with the intention of taking a nice, long ride.  With the wind kicking up, there were only two horses I trusted ... Majesty and Morgan.  Majesty pushed the stall door so I knew he wanted to go.  He was patient while I adjusted the fit and stirrups of the Aussie saddle.

 It was a nice, uncomplicated ride.  He wasn't sure about the path I chose (too rocky for him), so we opted to follow washes.  He was good as gold until I turned him towards home ... then he wanted to trot.  Turns out, I have no idea how to sit a trot in this saddle. Ha!

 I exchanged Majesty for Morgan and headed back out starting down the same path.  However, she didn't like the path either and veered west.  Well, ok.  We wandered through the sand dunes (which surprised me as she usually hates them) and ended up in the area I call the salt flats before heading home.  She, too, wanted to trot home.  Had only marginally better luck sitting the trot ... I'm leaning way too far forward and reaching for a horn that isn't there. 

After lunch and a nap, I figured I had enough energy for one more horse.  Rhulain met me at the gate and was anxious to get out.  We did ground work, trailer loading practice, and then saddled up.  I had to retrieve the neighbor's dog out of our yard and return it while Rhu stood patiently waiting for me at the front gate.  We did a short half mile since the neighbor's dogs kept getting out and chasing us around.  So, we went home and did a few figure 8s in the front yard while I worked on trotting in this saddle. 

So glad I have patient horses.  Love them all!

Still Working Things Out

51 minutes - 2.28 miles - Rhulain
20 minutes - ground work

I love Rhulain.  She might not feel the same thing about me after today's session though.  

First was trying saddles on for fit.  I realized the new saddle fits perfectly with no pad, but the fleece backed pad was too thick causing pinching in Rhu's shoulders.  I switched it for Morgie's 1/2" felt backed pad and it worked like a charm.

Tossed on her bitless and out the gate we went.  Cotton tail rabbit hopped out from a bush about 30 feet away and Rhu jumped sideways.  We tried going up a sand dune. She lifted her head, started breathing quickly, and planted her front hooves.  I swung out of the saddle and lead her up and around the dune.  Then I got back in the saddle and asked her to follow the exact same path.  Hesitant, but she did.

* Saw a rattlesnake going in to it's hole on another dune nearby.  2nd time I've seen a snake using that hole, so I've made note not to go near that area/dune.

Rhu's brain wasn't with me today, at all.  She was jumpy and headstrong, so I turned her towards home after 10 minutes.  We fought the whole way home because I wanted a walk and she wanted a panicked lope.  We settled for a slightly rushed trot.

Once we got home, we worked on walk-trot-walk-stop in the circular driveway for 20 minutes until I thought we had our cues down.  Then I added a lope component and we fell apart.  

She was trying hard, but she started getting irritated.  I was trying hard, but I started getting irritated.  So we stopped, took deep breaths, and did absolutely nothing for 2 minutes ... a time out for both of us changed our perspective.  She stopped wringing her tail and I remembered the problem was my lack of ability to communicate in a language she understood.  We worked on it for another 15 minutes until I felt we had a good stopping point.  Did we nail it? Nope, but we got better.

  

After almost an hour, she was pretty sweaty.  I pulled out the hose and she made it clear she did NOT like the hose.  So we spent another 20 minutes approaching and retreating with the hose, gently misting her, then waiting until she relaxed.  Got both sides of her torso and all four legs so I called it quits.  Scraped off the extra water and told her our next outing would be fun again.  We'll back burner the downward transition cue for at least two sessions. 

She promptly rolled in the sand and shook it all over me.  Have I mentioned I love that horse?  I truly do.  I laughed and hugged her hard.