I know that after my daily blogging during camp, this is definitely a drastic change. Even I feel it.
Starting today, I am living in a suitcase. Not all bad of course, but don't expect many blog posts. Except maybe while I'm at Emily's (Check the ticker! So excited! You have NO idea!)
So yesterday was the 4th of July barbecue at the stables. Oh. My. God. It was sooo hot and humid! Especially in the barn (which unfortunately all the food was. I think the hay in there contributed to the heat in there considerably!)
After eating some delicious hot dogs (Well done Curtis, they were excellent! Well done Tom, those chicken legs were fabulous!) I decided to go play with the horses because there were bound to be fireworks once it started getting dark. Even though it was blistering hot and humid (torture!)
I caught Sharlie (who came trotting to me! Love that pretty girl) and led her out to play on the ground a bit. Something however was rather off. I didn't know exactly what at first till Sharlie started trying to push me around, nearly knocking me over while going for a patch of grass. I got rather frustrated. I didn't know why she was acting this way, especially after how good she was just after camp. Was it maybe because she could sense that I wouldn't be around at all this next month?
When I took her into the arena (that had recently been tilled and had no grass) and she did indeed improve. I decided to try and do a little 1 rein riding, something I had never done with Sharlie before. But I was comfortable with the idea now as it had been something I had been practicing with Casper of the last couple weeks.
At first Sharlie did alright but she quickly became defiant and disrespectful. Bratty.
I tied the lead rope in order to make it two reins. Then Mom and I took the horses out for a small walk, me riding Sharlie and Mom leading Casper.
Sharlie continued to misbehave. This included pretending to stop and itch her leg or even to pee as an excuse to snatch at grass. Finally when she tried to get me off by unbalancing me I decided to get off.
On the way back I decided to ride Casper with 2 reins. While he was attempting to snatch at grass now and then, he was no where nearly as bad as Sharlie.
However one thing that dumbfounded me to no avail is the fact of Casper being very tense and bracey on his left side. Why is this so unusual? He is usually very bracey on his right side, which is his unconfident side.
He remained rather difficult on his left side, even when I rode with 1 rein. Finally when he softened slightly I decided to get off.
I'm glad to say our riding sessions are getting longer and longer.
Our first official one (in the vid) was about 10 minutes.
The one the other night was about 15 minutes.
This entire ride was about 30 minutes. That's double!
I don't think he could handle much more. But he is slowly building up his mental, emotional and physical stamina. Remember he is around 20 years old and we are still building up his muscle. Which is why at the moment we are only walking.
Being back in his old field with Sharlie that is basically a rather sharp incline is definitely helping. I swear I saw some butt muscle the other day! :P
I do love my babies. (Though Casper is older than me!) Even Sharlie when she is a brat because we have our good moments (hey, she trotted to me!)
Did I mention Casper came cantering to me the other day? *falls in love...again*
Goodnight! No more blogging this week I'm afraid apart from the A Learning Way series. Rememember you do not have to read those. Just for those interested in learning more about Kara & her ways.
Toodles
Julia
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