rainy bliss

We had a great week and rode 3X in five days, with alternating days of arena, trail, arena work. A perfect schedule in my humble opinion. I really enjoy both trail & arena riding, most of the time. However that first arena ride was frustrating, at least that’s what my face told everyone. I wear my emotions on my face – without even knowing. I didn’t tell my face to say anything, what the heck! Perfect strangers have come up to me in the past, upon occasion and made (nice) comments about whatever my face was saying at the time. Like it’s got a mind of it’s own or something lol. Guess it wasn’t listening to me that day either. Truth be told, I was frustrated with Koda – or myself, or both. Not sure. I get tired of non-stop correcting him. That little booger makes me work hard! Some days you just want to get on and ride. I know, I know that’s not realistic with a young horse. They need us to help them do the right thing, all the time. We made it through with help from Patty’s coaching, and by the end of the ride he did what I asked. My face must of been screaming frustration, cuz I never said a word. But she knew. Patty reminded me a ball spur was an option, and would make things easier for me. I’m sure the day will come when it makes sense to put on the spurs, but not now. I don’t expect things to be easy, this isn’t just about me – it’s about us…I am determined we’ll get it right sooner, next time.

We’ve had 90 degree muggy weather all week. On our second arena ride, we opted for the outdoor in the rain - it felt plain ol’ refreshing. I’m pretty sure Nemo was the only one who didn’t think so, he prefers not getting wet. But sometimes you gotta ride in the rain, and in this case we all wanted to. We’ll almost all of us. Nemo got over it, he didn’t have a choice. Patty kept offering to move into the indoor arena, but no one wanted to give up the refreshing feeling that only water on a hot day can give you. Besides, I was having the best ride ever on Koda. There is something to be said for repetition. We had our moments, but it was a big huge improvement. Patty was really pleased. I think we all were. Koda’s broken strides were less frequent and he was listening to my cues. He was loping off right away. At one point I was laughing so hard we ran right over the top of a cone. Oops, bad driver - sorry Patty. She laughed too, and said they had been running them over all day. We tried it again, and this time I focused and decided sooner which direction we were going. Good idea, ya think?! Other riders came and went during the rain that ranged from sprinkles, to nothing, to a steady soaking rain, and back to nothing again. By the end we were wet, tired, and happy. I found out after the fact hubby told Patty it was almost like Koda & I were a different rider and a different horse – and she agreed. Whatever, we were just enjoying the rainy bliss!!