Wizard Ride 132: Return of the Fly

Wednesday, 4/8/10

Chasing daylight as always. I slipped out of work on the early side and visited my friend’s barn. I got to Wizard’s barn and was tacked up by 7:10pm. The sun was setting so I rode without free longeing him. I mounted up in the indoor arena, did our little gate-opening trick, and we took a ride on the trails. I always prefer to ride loops on the trails since riding from Point A to Point B and back to Point A invariably encourages the horse to get a little quick on the way home. On the way out, we wove our way through a soft trail of pine needles. Wizard’s walk felt good. I practiced adjusting my position on him in order to acclimate him to me leaning down for tree branches and adjusting my rein length. We alternated from riding on the buckle to riding on soft contact to riding with my hands at the end of the lacing. He was far less busy with his mouth and I was very pleased. His bit-chewing seems to stem almost entirely from anticipation and excitement.

Once we got to the main trail, I asked for a trot. The path is very dippy and the constant change in footing caused him to try to canter a few times. While the canter was a welcomed delight on Monday, I really wanted him to trot tonight on this uneven footing. We are experiencing a streak of unusually warm weather in New Jersey and the gnats, flies, what-have-you are ALREADY out! I regretted not putting Wizard’s ear net on him before we left. I can’t believe I already have to worry about bugs!

I looped Wizard around a circular section of the trail and we walked back home. Again, he tried to trot a little on the hilly sections but I asked for a walk. His walk was so smooth and speedy. I knew he was thinking about the barn but as long as he kept his gait, I allowed him to walk briskly. It was dark by the time we reached the barn, and we had ridden for about 45 minutes. I rode him into the large outdoor arena and we did a ten-minute trot set. His tempo and contact were fantastic. I was too lazy to turn on the arena lights so we rode in darkness and it was fun :^)

After out trot work, I walked him around the driveway to cool off, walked around a large and slightly spooky piece of farm equipment. Wizard ogled it but listened to my leg. The second time around it, he did not bat an eye. In order to keep him guessing, I rode him back into the arena, where I dismounted. Wizard got a rinse-off and I let him graze under the stars, with a backing chorus of New Jersey frogs. It was too dark for my camera phone to pick up any video, but you can hear the soundtrack on the video above.