Since my last post about our rodeo-esque lesson we have only gotten 2 rides in. It has been ungodly hot here...yesterday it was 106 in the city and still 98 when I got to the farm. B's idea was that it would be so hot that Kiki wouldn't give me much trouble...ha! So let's recap...last Thursday, Betsy and some of the girls from Virginia came up for a few days so we decided to have a fun day where everyone played games! There were 9 of us mounted and I was excited about playing with Kiki because she seems to really like lots of stimulation and activity and although she acted like a nut getting ready (the vet was there working on a horse what ran through a fence two weeks ago, the trailer was pulled in front of the barn and was open, and horses were being brought in and turned out, and there were 8 other horses being tacked up)...once we got to the outdoor ring she was fine and she warmed up nicely. We played a bunch of silly games and it was really neat to see her watch the other horses and figure out what to do next -- she's incredibly smart that way. She broke into a few fits of crow hopping with excitement but I actually felt comfortable letting her canter back to the group! What a champ! At one point during a relay race where we had to grab silk flowers out of a jump, one of the other young horses spooked, ditched his rider, and bolted...I was standing with Kiki next to said horse's herd mate and I started to freak out a bit. I was trapped between the fence line and a jump and watched as this other horses galloped, bucking and squealing around the property heading straight for us. Kiki got pretty nervous, as did a few other horses, and she started moving around in a way that felt like she was either going to rear or bolt, but once the horse stopped (and was caught), I took a deep breath and she calmed down too. I really let my mind go to a worst case scenario during all of it, but I stayed on and didn't panic which certainly would have made things worse. I need to trust her, because she relies on me to tell her that things are safe. Our team ended up the winners and I got a sweet pair of socks with a little chestnut horse on them! We had a bonfire and a bbq which was an awesome way to end the day. It's strange to think that just last week it was cool enough to have a fire!
I gave her the weekend off, mostly because of the heat, though I did stop by and visit her on Sunday to give her some treats and love. I took a friend of mine and his son to visit and sadly his son got stung by a yellow jacket shortly after we arrived, so we headed home! I thought because it was a million degrees yesterday she might be tired, or quiet, but nooooo...I walked out to get her and she raised her head with a huge chunk of hay in her mouth, let me get a few feet in to the paddock, turned squealed and bolted. Nice. I try to get near her to show her that I have a cookie (it's useless trying to catch her empty-handed), she turns, bolts and goes bucking across the field, now with another mare in tow. Ugh. Finally she stops and just looks at me, snorting. I walk up, hand her the cookie and get going. Silly girl. She's all kinds of snorty heading back up to the barn and although she tacks up fine, I can just tell she got a wild hair up her behind. We had a lesson with the two other heads of herd on the property, which she was NOT ok with. She came in to the ring dominant, and without any of her herd around she could barely contain herself. If there's one thing I have learned about her body language is you can't trust MOST of what you see...the snorting, spooking, screaming, that I can handle, but it's her telltale wobbly legs that give away what she's really capable of. When she starts losing her mind her front legs will get really wobbly and shake, and well, there she stood, front legs going everywhere as I tried to mount. She dragged me around the arena looking at the sky for the first 10 minutes until I could get her to focus and take a deep breath. But the lesson was a good test for both of us...mostly, I was cursing myself for giving her so many days off...but we worked on lots of little things to make her think, and to learn some patience. Some solid leg yields (she's finally listening to my leg) and a few successful tuns on the haunches! We did a small bit of leg yielding at a trot and I thought we were done for the night...nope...B insisted I canter her, and I was nervous...where had my bravery gone??? But you know what, she watched the other horses go and she said to herself, "Niamh, I've got this, we go over here, pick up our trot and then left lead canter at M" and off she went, and we cantered around (albeit a little sideways) a few times...I really felt her canter, and now in a new close contact saddle, she felt comfortable for the first time! We did a few transitions on the left lead and then tried the dreaded right side! Though it was difficult getting her in to the canter, she actually felt more balanced in that direction. It's extremely hard for me to think of leg yielding her into the wall with my inside hand and leg while asking for the right lead canter, but once we got it, I could push her over with my inside leg and pulse the inside rein to keep her straight!
I was really pleased with her in the end, and if my flipcam caught any of it, I will certainly post, though the moment is etched in my mind! She finished off the evening by trying to maul me as I hosed her off, chain over the nose and everything...nerd!
*In other exciting news, I am going to farmsit for B and L next Thursday and Friday. I can't wait! Is it weird that I am excited to miss work for the opportunity to wake up and muck stalls instead?
I am such a horse girl.
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