5.29.2010

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!!

6 comments:

Sherry Sikstrom said...

Sounds to me like you turned a corner there.Yup young horses are work , but out in the rain , you did the work and alos remembered your joy! That is the ticket ,if you can rmember to enjoy the ride even with the hiccups of a young freshly started horse the rest will fall into place ,because you are telegraphing good stuff to reinforce your directions

Leah Fry said...

I have found that the best rides come from having no other expectation than enjoying myself and wanting my horse to do the same.

Terri said...

I too can get twisted up when a ride doesn't go the way I want. But horses, just like us can have bad days. I have to remember this all the time. Sounds like u did well and always best to end on a good note, don't you think?
Again, I now believe any ride is a good ride long as I don't fall on my head!
Keep up the great work!! It will pay off!

allhorsestuff said...

Nice, really nice sounding rides!
My face is like that too...if you think.it appears real time!
KK

Jeni said...

Great sounding rides!!

aurora said...

Thanks everyone! We'll see what five days without us riding brings...one of the reasons I look forward to the boys being at home. We will be on our own schedule :) of course other things will be lacking, namely Patty. It's always a trade-off.