Dreamy. Simply Dreamy.

65 minutes - 1.34 miles - Rhulain

Cleaned Morgan's eye wound and the applied the medicine.  I was only able to take a blurry picture because she didn't want to hold still ... she wanted to eat and I was bugging her, obviously.

Rhulain and I went for a half mile walk to check where her brain was.  She was right there with me, which was fabulous.

We headed back to the yard and did some ground work and trailer loading in the fading light.  She was solidly locked on.  I saddled her up and we rode around the yard in the pitch black dark.

 

We nailed our circles and transitions ... it was almost magical.  She and I were teaching and listening to each other. I made note of what cue worked and when, then repeated it twice to ensure I got the same response ... then used it on the other side.  YES!  

We got beautiful, even circles on both sides and lovely downward transitions by melding the way she was trained and the way I ride. 
We came to a dead stop by me thinking it, then breathing out loudly, and sitting deeply.

*dreamy sigh*

Love.This.Horse.

Sunday Saddle Time - Longest Ride Yet For Rhulain!

60 minutes - 3.27 miles - Rhulain, Bill and Morgan

Me: Rhu, you feel like a ride?
Rhu: *snuggles*

Me: Morgie, are you OK with me riding Rhu and Bill taking you out today?
Morgie: Sticks her tongue out at me, then grins.
Me: Guess that means she's fine.

Bill and Morgie led most of the time, which was just fine with Rhu and I.  The temperature was rising so we kept to mostly flat routes and an easy pace. Blissfully, we had the area to ourselves.

Bill called a halt because he noticed a tortoise ahead of us ... upon closer inspection, we saw two baby tortoises on the path.  We grabbed a few pictures then adjusted our path so we wouldn't disturb them.  First time we've seen them in this area and it was nice to see two of them soaking up the sun.

Morgie did her usual "I don't want to stand in one spot" jigging, but Bill told her firmly to knock it off.  She stopped moving her feet and brought her nose around to his leg to apologize.  It was really adorable.

Morgie wanted to trot, so we let them have their heads for a bit.  Rhu decided lope was her preferred speed, but she wouldn't transition to a trot or walk when asked.  So, Bill had Morgie speed up for a count of five, then walk for a count of five.  With Morgie ahead of us, Rhu had no choice but to slow down when asked.  It turned out to be a great learning tool for Rhu.

After 2.5 miles, Rhu started to get tired and tried to head home.  We lope/trot/walked for another 0.25 miles to reinforce the lesson then turned towards home.  Rhu had one big spook when she saw a mattress so old it was just rusted springs off to the side of the road. We took the opportunity to walk around it on the left side, then turned and walked around it on the right side until it was a non-issue.

Rhu and Morgie were sweaty when we got home, so we groomed them and turned them out for a good roll in the soft sand.  Both of them did really well today.  Bill said though it had been two years since he last rode her, she remembered his style of riding and his cues and responded perfectly.  Love that they respect each other so well.

As for Rhu, I'm still amazed we've only been riding together for four months.  Sometimes it feels like we've been partners forever, then I remember she's still "green" when she doesn't transition.  It's a wonderful experience being with her and establishing our communication pattern.

Rhulain's First Ride Off Property

40 minutes - Rhulain, Bill & Wasabi - 1.13 miles

Me: Pssst, hey Rhu ... wanna go for a ride ... outside the gate?

Rhulain: What? Really!

Yep.  Bill and Wasabi are going to join us.  We'll walk down the street to your favorite snacking spot, then I'll hop on and we'll ride home. 

Um, Rhu, what are you staring at?

Wasabi.

Oh. She doesn't want to step over that log ahead of you. Shall we try it?

Sure.

Well that was easy. You're pretty amazing Rhu.

As we were almost home, Bill decided to walk Wasabi so he could open the gate for us.  

They looked deep in conversation, so we hurried to catch up, cause eavesdropping is fun.  They weren't talking about how awesome Rhulain was, so we stopped listening.

Good ride ... Rhu knows more than she has let on so far.  Her trainer did a great job or she's just really smart, or both.

Had a little trouble bringing her down from a trot to a walk; we might need to work with a bit to reinforce that lesson.  Otherwise, no complaints!





* Updated 6/12/15 - Bill had taken a picture of Rhu and I together for this momentous occasion:

She's so beautiful