Red wants no part in your silly horsey shenanigans.

We rode for a long time yesterday. Horses were sweaty. We were sweaty. Horses were hyper.

Red & I cantered. We-Wait, WHAT??? Red cantered??? YES! We cantered!!!! AHHHH!!

Before yesterday, I had never cantered. Like ever. We barely ever even trot just because I was somewhat petrified at the thought of going faster than a walk. I've only been riding since September, I mean, I'm going at a good pace but I was wondering if I'd ever get over my silly fears.

It all started when we were out in the ten acre pasture. Ann-who rode Bay-was trotting a very hyper BayBay, and Red, not to be outdone by his gal, wanted to trot with her. I held him back but Ann was just like, "Oh just let him go!" and talked me into letting him. We trotted. Bay cut Red off, Red looked at me like, "Oh come on, let's just go!" and so I went. We CANTERED. Red and Bay raced for a few minutes while mom got Spirit sorted out behind us, and oh my goodness. I am so excited. We trotted/cantered for almost the whole time and I must admit, it was so stinkin' fun. This is a huge milestone for us.

Red

Red did amazing. I know I say this every time, but this is the best ride we've had in a long time. He started sidestepping when going down a steep hill, but after a couple kicks he went down easy. He wanted to follow Bay-Bay but she kept bunny hopping and trying to buck due to not being ridden-she had a pregnancy scare that enabled Ann to ride her-so I had to keep him away, he was stubborn and wanted to chase her, but I kept him back and after a few minutes he seemed to realize that I wouldn't let him get too close to her just yet. When we were heading back to the trails, Bay kept ramming her side into Red and acted like she was going to nip my leg, but Red moved and pinned his ears back. Mom was like, "Geeze, Red is protective over you." Lol! Every time another horse acts mean towards me, Red pins his ears back and moves in the way. Hahaha!

Ears!

Bay was already tacked up when we got there because Ann had worked her in the round pen for awhile, so once I was done with Red, mom was still tacking up because Spirit acts stubborn and it takes her longer, so I hopped on and FINALLY adjusted my much-too-long stirrups....They are a pain to adjust and so I just lived with the long stirrups until I couldn't stand it...Mom got a new saddle yesterday so she got to try it out. She wanted a deep bucket seat but ended up with a more standard seat, but it has memory foam in the seat. MEMORY. FOAM. So comfy!!!

Notice the saddle...Didn't get a picture of it alone because we were in a rush to get to the barn.

We went on all of the trails around the farm, then trotted-cantered, in my case-around the beautiful ten acres. There is a big subdivision on the other side of the fence, and kids always come out to see the horses when we ride up there. :)) Red, as always, ignored the barking dogs and kept on going. I love this horse. Spirit seemed a little scared, but didn't spook or anything. Phew.

In the ten acres...Ignore Red's stance, I think he just got done peeing. ;) ;)  Funny, I'm always happy to see him pee now after the "bean incident" and him not peeing as much. When Red doesn't pee, there's something up!

We rode for a good hour and a half, maybe two hours. Bay really needed to be worked, and she ended up SO sweaty! :)) The weather was beautiful though, around 75ish degrees and breezy, so it wasn't overly hot. Red, as usual, worked up a sweat, but it wasn't too bad. We walked the horses around and let them graze before eating the grain just in case, though. Don't want them to be overheated and then eat. One of my biggest pet peeves is horse owners that don't cool the horse down!!!

Red on our little walk....My, what sweat.

Taking selfies while chilling with my pony. Totally the norm for me

Here are some pictures from the ride before I get into the "silly horse shenanigans"-

Bay & Ann...She kept backing up!!! Lol!

Talking to John...

Heading out.

Red's ears. Spirit and mom in front.

Spirit bowing.

Ann took this...Those are Bay's ears and Red and I in front.. I love this picture!

TIME FOR SHENANIGANS.

So, today we decided to take Bay and Red out of the 4 acres where Spirit is-Since he is new and no one knows him, we are transitioning the horses in there and going slow-and put Patches and Jericho in. Red hadn't been in the barn to eat or hang out with his buddies in almost a week, and he started whinnying and checked out all of the stalls like, "Is anything different??? HEY LOOK! MY FRIENDS ARE IN HERE!" :)) We let him walk around the barn and didn't put him in a stall...He behaves really well outside of his stall and his stall was currently being used by one of the colts, soooo....

Red..

So, after I made sure Red was settled, we went up to feed the other horses in the 4 acres and we put Patches in there....

Patches being a meany...Patch is in the back and she is "herding" Spirit.

She really did fairly good and only chased Spirit for a minute, then went to Bella and tried to buck. She bucked at Bella and nailed her pretty good, but Bella turned her butt and bucked her right back. :)) Tucker went to Bella and got Patches away and took off to the back of the pasture. :))

Next came Jericho...he came in..

Ann leading him in.

 He didn't seem bothered and went to go drink some water. He drank and some spilled and he spooked at it. Lol! Then, he noticed Spirit. Uh oh

Running..

Running..

Running..I love this one!!

Spirit running from the herd.

After about an hour things settled and we left...Step-dad was watching the kiddo so we couldn't stay much longer. Plus we were EXHAUSTED! Over 3 hours of hard riding, work and herding horseys! Phew!!


Jeff and mom are going to ride sometime this week and I'll have to stay home, sadly, but I'll probably ride again this week as well. :) Went to the barn early this morning to put sunscreen on Spirit's nose and check on everyone..He had a couple wounds but Bella got the worst of it. They had to take Jericho out. :( One step at a time.

On another note....

New boots!!!!