Paris Ride 3: Kittenlicious

Thursday, 12/10/09

I admit it: there are fringe benefits to riding Paris, aside from the fact that she is a gorgeous, classy mare. 1) I get to spend more time with my friend Sarah and 2) I get to spend time with Pumbaa and Timon, the barn kittens. The kittens are a joy to watch. Every object in the barn is a new jungle gym and new kitten games are invented every hour. My favorite kitten games are The Saddle Game (“I’ll hide under the saddle and swat you as you walk by”), The Mounting Block Game (“I’m the king of the mounting block and you are not”), and The Lead Rope Game (“Look! It’s a giant snake! Attack!”).

Today’s ride was another edition of gaining fitness and flexibility for Paris (and me). We had a long walking warmup (15-20 minutes), followed by trot work. I am gradually adding transitions into our schedule. Paris is a lovely, big-moving mare and her walk-to-trot feels very different from the Thoroughbreds I’ve been riding lately. We schooled with some figure 8s and I asked for a few halts during our walk work. My plan for the weekend is to sneak out to the barn on either Saturday or Sunday and keep warm!