4/10/14

Moments of Anger.

Finalllyyyy rode today!! It's stinkin' gorgeous outside, got up to almost 80 degrees, breezy and sunny. Perfect day for our plans! Went out after some work on the property/babysitting. Horses were in the 4 acres so didn't have to walk miles to go catch them. ;) Ponies were surprisingly easy to catch, which we were worried about because the grass is so green and it was so nice out, normally they aren't happy to come tack up. Red walked right over and Spirit just stood there like, "Um, I'm smarter than him! I see that lead rope!"

So handsome in the pasture!

I'm really excited with how his coat is looking this year!! He's still shedding but definitely has gotten rid of most of the winter coat he had-or lack there of, lol! His forelock is also finally growing!!

Such a cute picture ruined by flies!!


Led him down and decided to put them both in the round pen to tack up because there was a big pile of gravel dumped in the way that we normally walk through. :/ They get along really well together so mom and I ran to grab our tack and grooming supplies. First day using fly spray again! Part of me is sad about it but I'm super excited that it's starting to get warm! Thankfully A had already mixed up the natural fly-spray for Redman!
So sweepy.

Tacked them both up, worked on mounting for a minute and we were off. I got on first and led Red ahead of Spirit, went by ourselves to the 4 acres for a few minutes and made sure Red was doing well without the spurs like he did last week. SUCH a big difference!! I finally have my calm horse back. Worked on stopping when being told as opposed to him pushing against the bridle so he can keep walking, also worked on keeping a lower headset when told. My aunt told me that he responded to vocal cues with his headset, so I tried it out today and sure enough, I said "low" and he lowered it, I said "high" and his head went higher! He's way smarter than everyone gives him credit for, haha!

They both did pretty good in the 4 acres, Red had a couple of barn sour moments but very controllable. No bolting, no spooking. The only time he tried to kind of trot off was when he knew the ride was almost done and once when a bug was bothering him to he trotted away from the barn just to get away from the stupid horse fly, lol! (I also ended up murdering that fly when it tried to sting him. Yuck.)


No reins. ;)

The 'tudes started once we left the 4 acres and circled around. Red was obviously not pleased to be going away from the barn, but he went without a big fight. Spirit, however, was so not happy. He tried to bolt mom back home which resulted in Red kind of trotting off in a "Oh geeze!" way. ;) Mom ended up having to just barely crop him, and it ticked him off so he bolted even worse and threw a buck. Red and I went the opposite way to get away from it and Red did pretty well until we were heading back and Spirit acted up again. Red got spooked because of him and bunny-hopped/squealed for a minute but the second he did it, he stopped in his tracks and kept nudging my knee with his head until I started talking to him. I stopped Red to make sure he was calm while mom kept Spirit going in lots of circles. Red was pleased just to stand still and get some love.

A lot of circles and some fighting with Spirit, I took Red to the 4 acre gate, dismounted and loosened his cinch. He did a good job keeping himself in control and he deserved a good end to the ride. We took a little walk in the 4 acres, I gave him some love and then walked back to the round pen where A was lunging Stoney, Red took a little nap, haha. "A" let mom use the round pen and we made Spirit work for a few more minutes before we let him settle down. He barely even broke a sweat.
Red says "I iz good pony, give me cookies."
 Took off Red's tack first and of course, he happily joined up without me even asking while I got all of our stuff together. Love, love this pony. ;) Mom had a few moments of anger when Spirit was being bad and threatening to put him up for sale, but the second she dismounted, I could see she changed her mind. Does he need a ton of respect? Yes. Is he a bad horse? No...he just needs work.
Losing some chub, now he needs muscle!


 I seriously am proud of how Red handled himself, though. A lot of other horses would've totally flipped out at some of the things today, but he managed to stay calm and I have no doubt in my mind that he knew he had to keep me safe and on his back. So lucky to have this horse as my teacher!

And in other news, bought some tack from Spirit's old owner this evening after the ride! I got a breast collar/girth set, bareback pad and a pair of reins for "A" and mom bought a wonder bit, reins, electrical tape for the fencing and a saddle pad. :) Woohoo!

2 comments:

  1. Fly spray... Not excited to buy that.

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    1. Haha! I'm not excited to be using it at all. Oh well! Better than -20 degrees.

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