AND THEY'RE OFF!

I wish I could say that Saturday was better than Friday, but that would be a fairy tale, and this is the real world. I rode Henry first before the farrier was due to arrive. It was fairly uneventful....well...I guess that's not entirely true. In the first five minutes of walking he tripped and almost fell on his face. Poor guy, it had only been five weeks but his toes had grown so much his feet were starting to look like Donald Duck's. Kathy would have been so proud of me though! My HEELS WERE DOWN and so I did not fall off!!!!! YAY for me!

The rest of the ride really was uneventful. We did more trotting than on Tuesday and later I thought that might have been poor judgment. His stifles are weak and it is easy to overexert him, plus, as mentioned, his toes were long. I did not work on myself as much and instead concentrated on him. In his attempts to escape actually using his muscles Henry does the giraffe neck, inverts his back like a rope bridge and bulges to the inside when going around turns. Quite like those sour old lesson horses we all learned to ride on! He's actually quite talented in contorting his body to avoid using his hind end and back. I attribute it to his stubbornness, his weak stifles, and being out of shape. I say stubbornness first because he does bend around certain turns, like the ones going in the direction of the barn. A plus for me though, I actually USED my leg and was able to push him over to my opened outside rein. Granted, we had to do this over and over and over before he started to kind of accept it. I think once he did volunteer the bend and of course I made it seem like he had just won us a gold medal. No matter how small the effort it must be rewarded tenfold. Honestly I can't complain about the ride. It is always an effort to get him to bend in areas but he didn't get upset or frustrated, and neither did I. He made an effort and I didn't ask too much of him.

Unfortunately, Holly's ride left much to be desired. Although she stood rock still after I mounted (a big change from the mare who's motto is "You've got one foot in now it's time to go!") she was not very relaxed when we trotted. She walked around laid back as ever, but trotting? Not so much. I think she may have been achy because I rode her on Friday. It was a short ride but she has been out of work for a couple months. I probably should have given her another day to recuperate, or at least just gone for a walk. But no, apparently my poor judgment was pervasive throughout the day on Saturday. Or MAYBE, she was giving me her best impression of the horse that won the Kentucky Derby. How I wish I hadn't missed the race! Anyway, whatever the reason, she was quite swift. I was constantly half halting her. She did slow down when she thought I was going to ask her to walk, and I tried to get her to hold that speed but only managed several strides before we were off. Sigh, it's something we'll have to work on. Still, I am so glad I rode them both on Saturday. As they say, "A bad day riding is better than a good day at the office." Not only that, but I actually enjoy that I am a little sore from riding. It really makes me feel like I accomplished something.