Spinning horses.

So, today I decided to get out and ride early because it's going to be hot and I wanted to beat the heat. Mom, "Petey" and I went out, got Red in the round pen and all tacked up and she went back down with the little bro. While we were there and getting our stuff together so I could start riding, a friend who boards at the barn and has been in Florida all Summer got back! Yay!!!

Here he is, changing a tire and letting Hercules wear his hat.

So, I went to the pen, put my foot in the stirrup and Red starts spinning. He refuses to let me put a foot in the stirrup and I stop for a minute, check his hooves and walk him to make sure something isn't wrong. Nope, totally fine. He is completely sound. It's just the fact that, 1. This is the first time I've mounted ALONE. No one was near us. And 2. He was lazy. ;) So, I tied the reins to the round pen, mounted, he never moved. I dismounted, untied the reins, threw them over his head, hooked them on the horn and mounted. No more problems! Yay!!

Since it rained HARD all weekend, the pen was kind of muddy so we took it slow. We trotted/cantered in the beginning, but as it started getting muddier we slowed to a walk and had a chill ride. It was too muddy to go out on the trails and Spirit+The babies were in the 4 acres, so I was stuck with the round pen. It was probably good for Red to be worked in the pen for awhile, anyways, he hadn't been in there in a few weeks and I think he does better when I get him in there every so often.

He worked up a sweat!! Ignore the puddle beneath him..It wasn't THAT muddy, but he peed RIGHT as I walked in!

We trotted around the pen for about fifteen minutes, then cantered for two or so laps around, then we slowed to a walk for another twenty minutes, trotted around for another five minutes and walked around for another twenty or so. We worked a little bit on stopping and circling and he did really good after the mounting incident. After we were done I untacked him, put his halter on-his old one, the turquoise has disappeared. :P-and worked on his following command. I led him to the back of the round pen, clucked and said "Follow" and he followed me to the gate outside and I allowed him to go on and get water from the trough near the barn. I walked down to put his saddle, pad and bridle away and got a few treats, clucked and said "come" and he obeyed before he even saw the treats. Woot!! He took his first treat, said hello to "Petey" in the stroller and came back for his other treat. He went back to the water, then checked out Craig and joined in with the curious horses around the car.

"I know you have treats!!"

I was going to bring his new tail extensions and leg wraps but it was just too muddy and rushed to do it. I didn't even brush him, all I did was check for thorns and etc so he wouldn't be irritated. He wasn't that dirty anyways, so I wasn't overly worried. Next time I'll get him all dolled up and take better pictures. ;)

Pretty boy!

Step-dad wants to ride this week, so I may not ride again until this weekend, MAYBE. It may be too hectic to even do it, but I'll be by the barn every day, probably. He really could use a bath....