The wind beneath my feet.

Every now and then, I feel annoyed or mad at Red. It's bound to happen! I mean, I'm with him. A lot. I spend more time with HIM than I do any of my other friends-sad? Nope.-He is my best friend and all BFF'S get into arguments, right? Right.

Like last Saturday, when we rode and he decided to make a fool out of himself, and me, while going down the hill. He normally runs down and actually seems to like the hill work, as do I, but nope. When we had people watching, people I had bragged to about how great he is on the trails which is normally the stinking truth! He decides to be a mule and stops right at the hill, refuses to move, until mom gets ahead on Spirit and I smack his butt and yell.

I don't. Like. Yelling. I really hate it. I hate seeing people smack at their horses, spur like crazy and yell, I mean, I wasn't even close to hurting him. I tapped him, but the yelling. I hate the yelling. I don't want to be that horse owner that is so obsessed with WINNING that she doesn't care about the RIDE. Or the horse. Finally, he went down the hill and the rest of the ride was full of rainbows and sunshine minus a mini buck that I can't be mad at him for because a horse fly kept stinging him. And then he refused to let me mount, but he did better than normal and let me on within a minute or two. Maybe three. But I'm not mad at him for it. I was mad when he stopped our ride just to be a sassy pony.

I know that feel.

He redeemed himself later, though. When he listened to my cues and went up the hill perfectly. And didn't try to run into the barn. He got treats and some cuddles, yeah. I can't say no to his whinny when I leave without giving him cookies. :P

Red is nowhere near perfect. The poor boy goes bald occasionally, he's a mule sometimes and he is sassy a lot. But he really is a good horse, he's willing. I don't know why he was so adamant on NOT going down the hill but something was up. Maybe it was because there were more horses than usual, maybe I was being too pushy or too soft. Maybe he needed me to stop, pat him on the neck and urge him forward softly, or just wait until the others were out of the way and then I could go. I probably didn't handle it like I should've. One thing I've learned about him is he hates being yelled at. HATES it. I can yell at him all day and chances are he either acts more stubborn or just afraid of me, but if I sweet talk him, the horse does anything I tell him to. He only responds like that to me. I feel like we've created a really nice bond and he has molded to fit my needs and what I do, and vice versa! He's stubborn, more so than normal, when others ride him,  but he typically does what I tell him to if I'm on him.  I just don't want to look like this-

 

Because I want our bond to go both ways. I don't want to love him and him not love me, vice versa. I don't want to argue about stupid stuff. I'm no liberty rider at all, but I don't want my horsemanship to revolve around spurs and crops.

Thursday, he redeemed himself fully. Hopped on him bareback as y'all know and he did perfect, never minded the new filly, just chilled. All in all, I love my horse. I wouldn't trade him for a million dollars or a "better" horse because I can't think of another horse that could fit my needs more than he does.