Selena Ride 29; Wizard Ride 99: Congratulations are in order…

Congratulations to Mary the Morgan and her owner for a VERY successful first show ever! They were a great team and they handled their English pleasure, showmanship, and model classes beautifully. It was a great schooling experience, as well as a great show for them- the ribbons are proudly displayed on Mary’s stall door :^)

Monday, 9/21/09

Another lovely late summer/early fall day at the barn. I just barely got out of work in time to hit the trails with Wizard and Mary the Morgan. We were out for about 2 miles. I rode one and walked the last mile. Wizard was fantastic again. I’m a huge advocate of keeping rides on a good note and it has worked beautifully so far. It was getting dark on the way out so the horses were more focused and a little slower than they are in daylight. It was a bit of a trust-building exercise on the way back, since I could just barely see the winding trail. I had to let Wizard pick his way back and he did like a seasoned pro.

I rode Selena outdoors under the lights. We did our usual long rein walking warmup, followed by some stretching at the trot. Then we focused on bending and rode patterns around the jumps that were set up in the arena. Selena was so relaxed that I was using a little more leg than usual, and was able to get her to bend around my leg a bit. The ride was about 35 minutes total. She is getting her fall shots on Wednesday so she will most likely get a night of grazing and grooming.