Photo by Margaret Chant and edited by Jessica Metropulos

Saturday, November 1, 2008

A Lovely Fall Day

I started this post on the 1st, and promptly forgot about it...I'll write one for today after I finish this one :)
~Fran, 11/4/08


*Sigh* Such a lovely fall day. I got lots of horsey time, and it was just a NICE day...So anyway here's a quick recap :)

Morning--Went to Sherri's to help pull shoes. Poor Chy clipped a heel yesterday and yanked one shoe off in the process, so we decided to take the other off instead of having the farrier out on an emergency call on the weekend. That turned into an hour long drama, so to speak, because farriers have tools that us girls don't, and so Sherri and i took turns yanking and prying until we got the clip shoe off. We both successfully sliced our hands open though...gotta love those little surface slits that sting (a bit like having an inch-long paper cut on your palm)

Afternoon--FARMAGE! I had 3 lovely sessions with my horses, I started out with Knightly, who surprised me pleasantly with perhaps the most lovely session I've ever had with him. We started playing with patterns, which this clever little guy picked up on IMMEDIATELY. We even took a dive into some L3 stuff and did canter figure 8's. He just GETS it! Next, we went for a little jaunt around the chopped corn fields. He was just PERFECT in there, he settled into the most perfect easy lope I've EVER had out of him. His downhill body makes riding his gaits a bit difficult bareback, usually, but today, that was far from the case. He did simple changes even, and just had a grip and was using his hind quarters. I was SO PROUD of him.

Next, Lady and I ripped around for about an hour. That little horse is such a fun little partner to play with. We have about the same fitness level and attention span, so we really have fun inventing games together. We played a bit with the lie-down and sit task, which she's getting really good at...I'm enjoying this confident little thing so much. Pix to come soon :)

Last, did a little riding on Crest. He was buzzed and hyper, but we had a good time overall. Played a lot with snappy downward transitions, and he did really well, but I did realize I was using my reins too much. Must play with that a bit more.

Anyway, I finished the day out with a nice lesson with a new student, and we had a good time. It was a very nice day :)

2 comments:

Tina said...

I'm excited to read about playing with minis. My sister-in-law has recently had one given to her (there's a reason horses are free!) that is a rotten little stallion, and he's been treated with a lot of "little-horse" techniques, like pushing and shoving, since he's so small. They aren't interested in learning, since his biting, rearing and general naughtiness is "cute". I'm guessing it won't be long before they get hurt and finally decide to let us teach them something. I have a hard time not using "little-horse" techniques, too, but at least I know better.

Fran said...

As awful as it sounds, I feel their pain, and that cuteness is REALLY hard to get over. But when stuff starts to get dangerous, I've learned to put the hammer down. I got kicked last week because I was encouraging a rough game, and learned my lesson. No more "She's so cute, watch her step on me" games. She's a horse too.

And so far, I might add, she's taken to that. She's quite content to be a well behaved cutie.

Thanks for your input :)