Selena Ride 36; Wizard Ride 108: This Little Piggy Had Roast Beef…

Saturday, 10/10/09

There was a nip in the air and the wind was brisk, but it was another lovely day for riding. I took Wizard and my friend took Mary on the trails. We were out for about an hour. Wizard’s walk felt a tad uneven- I could feel the saddle rotating in a circle instead of gently moving back and forth. My hope was that he would work out of it, but he did not. When we approached the spot on the trail where the pigs are kept, he flat-out refused to go forward. My urging only made him throw a fit. For the safety of me and Mary and her owner, I dismounted and demanded that he walk briskly past the pigs, VERY close to them. Mary is becoming such a good trail horse- she did not turn a hair while Wizard was hopping around and she followed him when we walked past.

I continued to ask Wizard to listen to my commands from the ground. Halt, walk, halt, back, walk. Reins soft, reins on contact, reins loose. We hand walked for about 20 minutes. When we found a good spot, I remounted and we rode the rest of the way back to the barn. Wizard did not settle well at all. He was bouncing and prancing and fussing the whole way back. When we arrived at the barn, I asked him to do several laps around the dressage arena at the walk. He fussed a bit but eventually settled. Out of curiosity, I asked for a trot, the first trot in over a month of riding. He fussed with his head and went into a jiggy trot. I asked for the trot two or three times, just for just the length of the arena each time. We went back to a quiet walk and he finally settled. After I dismounted, I put him on a longe line for a minute to evaluate his trot. I could not see any irregularity in his gaits. Hm. I’ll have to play it by ear with him.

Selena and I had a fantastic ride. We worked in the indoor arena, starting with walking on a loose rein, followed by circles and bending lines. Her trot has improved markedly and we did some work on lengthening and shortening her stride. She is beginning to bend better through her ribcage around curves and she is accepting contact, which in turn is improving my position. We did just a bit of canter work, which was also much better. Her head was high as she balanced herself, but she did not invert her neck or evade my cues in any way. Good girl!

And to follow up on a previous adventure, Mr. Spanky has been found! As we walked back on the trail back to the barn, it crossed my mind that we were in the vicinity of where I lost my dressage whip. I looked down, and, TA-DAAAA! There lay Mr. Spanky. Mary’s owner hopped off and picked it up. Three cheers for them :^)