Heat wave = 20s/30s.
Yeah....Kind of sad.
BUT that mean I have been riding.
So let me go over the events of two days ago. Sasha did not have exercise for the previous 3/4 days eheheh.....That meant I was DEFINATELY lunging her! So, I brought her out for a lunge session and the arena is CHAOS. She is "spooky" - basically fake spooking at everything, she was just too full of beans. The BO told me to tell her if I needed help. A few minutes in, I asked for it. She sent in her cousin, a grand prix rider that flies Ernest Dillon over from the UK for lessons - eep! - and the cousin comes over. I expected her to lunge Sasha for me. Nope, she tells me she is riding Sasha, and then goes to throw on a pair of boots and a helmet.
She hops on Sasha, who is a perfect angel walk/trot. Grrr, Sasha, you are making me look bad by saying you were going to be hot today. Well, then comes canter time. Sasha EXPLODES! She took off, shaking her head, randomly leaping up in the air, swapping leads, everything. I guiltily admit, I was happy that Sasha did not make me look like a total idiot....
So, the woman finally wrestles Sasha into submission after an hour and a half of trotting and cantering. I then get on, trot around for another half hour [did not want a galloping horse in a busy arena when I am not a grand prix rider.]
Then, last night.
My mom dropped me off at the barn because she needed to go grocery shopping and there were people there so it was okay to abandon me. =P Anyways. I get Sasha ready, get on, etc. I warm her up, and my riding instructor is giving a lesson to a friend of mine who rides my mom’s pony and another girl. After about twenty minutes, he sets some cavalettis up and tells me that I can go over them too. He was explaining to the girls about how cavalettis should encourage a horse to round its back up, lower its head, etc etc. I think Sasha understands English. As he was explaining, she went on the bit, rounded up beautiful, extended her stride and was fluid over the poles.
Of course, she only did that once. *eye roll* Either way, she was being good.
Well, trotting over the poles at least. There were four other people in the arena. A beginner, the two other girls, and an advanced beginner. I would place myself somewhere between beginner and intermediate, MAYBE a low intermediate. MAYBE. So, Sasha and I were trotting around. My RI told the girls in the lesson to canter after the poles and once they reach the straightaway. After a few more times, I decided to follow their lead. [No pun intended in any way, shape, or form. It just happened.]
Again, Sasha exploded. She TOOK OFF. Completely. We were tearing down the arena, with my RI telling everyone to WALK RIGHT NOW AND GET OFF THE RAIL. Oops. I think I interrupted the lesson…I pulled Sasha up by the end of the arena, near the makeshift stalls at the end of the ring. Pulley reins=best friend. I was joking with my friend that that was our racehorse impression. Needless to say, again I decided not to canter anymore that day just because it was crowded. We trotted and went over the cavalettis [walking after] but no cantering. The lesson people jumped a bit, but I just did lots and lots of trotting.
My mom showed up [after the main event.] with our Cavalier King Charles puppy. After cooling Sasha down, my mom turned him loose in the barn. First, he attacked the muck pile the gross dog, then we went to the indoor. My friend and I jumped him over the cavalettis, and then I started doing courses in the indoor on foot.
I think Sasha needs a good run in the indoor. My mom, who has Thursdays off, turned her out in the indoor this morning. Apparently she was galloping for about 10 minutes straight. So hopefully it got her weeblies out. It better – I have a lesson tomorrow. Fun stuff.
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