Days 75 & 76

Sunday

Another rough day lunging Harry. He keeps fishtailing out and I can't pull him back in because he starts to go up. All I can do is stupidly chase him around and try to get him to lunge. It's frustrating. He kept pulling a lot today and wanted to go faster. My hands were tired by the end of the ride. He's doing well though. Paco said for me to use the double reins still. The past couple of times I took them off because he was doing okay, but I guess I need to use them up until a week or so before the show.

Speaking of which, I think our next show is in the beginning of August in Springfield, Ohio. We're leaving Brie behind (that was decided before her meltdown) and bringing Harry and Nina. I'm both looking forward to bringing Harry and our first show together and dreading it at the same time. I hope he doesn't spook at anything that could get me injured. I'm not as young and fearless as I used to be.

Paco's ride yesterday seemed to carry over to today with Brie. She was a complete brat! All I wanted to do was practice walking and corto-ing without stirrups but she kept bunny-hopping so I had to wear them. She wasn't walking straight, she tried to run into Harry (which would've been okay if it was Nina, she loves Nina, but she's not too keen about Harry and I didn't want any kick-battles), and she would NOT reverse properly at all. After a few times cantering around the outdoor arena, she got tired and I brought her in.

Didn't get to ride Nina today because of Brie's psycho attitude.

Monday

It never occurred to me that Brie might actually like going outside. But I'll get to that in a minute.

Harry was better today. Paco told me I was lunging the wrong way (you can imagine how dumb I felt) with the pole and that it was being ineffective. After he showed me how to put the rein around the pole, Harry was much better and much calmer. Paco said that since Harry already knows how to charge ahead, he needs to learn how to walk, which I'd been working on, and that the pole is a good way to teach him. It definitely worked, because when I rode him, 9 times out of 10 when I wanted him to walk he walked. I'm now working on reinforcing that because Harry likes to just go when he decides to go, which is not gonna happen. He needs to learn that he can only corto when I ask him to, not just whenever he feels like it. He started out very energetic and uppity but then calmed down. Still wasn't going as slow as I would've liked, but it was progress from yesterday.

Onto Brie. She was pretty calm in the indoor arena. Walked right along, so I decided I wanted to go for a bit in the outdoor arena. She zigzagged as always out of the barn and into the arena and was pretty calm going around, snorting her little heart out. We walked and corto-ed mostly and it was really enjoyable. We worked on some serpentines which she absolutely hated at first but then got the hang of it. I was ready to go in and I assumed she was ready to go in, since every time we passed the gate she'd lean that direction, knocking my boot against the fence. I wanted to break this bad habit so I went to the other side of the arena and wanted to make a straight line out the gate.

Definitely was not happening. She would make it halfway there calmly at a walk before she started hopping. After about 15 minutes, we got out of the gate and I was trying to go straight into the barn, not sideways into the ATV and manure spreader next to the door, and she did a little rear. The first rear she's done since I was about 14 on her! I didn't even really register it because my eyes were pretty much squinted closed from the sun, so I felt it as pretty quickly and instinctively pulled her to the side. For about a split second I wanted to just go into the barn and be done with it, but we moved back into the outdoor arena for a few more laps around. After she snorted her heart out again, I tried to make the straight line out. Still not happening. It then occurred to me: "She's resisting going into the barn...maybe she likes being out here?" Which was completely weird because all the time I've had her she's always acted crazy going back to the barn from any sort of outdoor activity and I always assumed it was her excitement to go back, but it now occurred to me that maybe I was wrong.


So after my mom helped us get out the gate, we walked outside. Yes. We WALKED. Astonishing!! We walked the front pasture and she wanted to go out the gate of the property (but that was not happening. Don't wanna take a mile when given an inch). We walked back behind Gary's house and along the trees. We cantered in a circle for a while and then walked some more. I wanted her to walk along the trees but she veered off towards the mini mountain of dirt back there, snorting all the way. That's what really did it for me. She likes being outside. She's not this barn sour diva. She's a real horse. She loves the sunshine demons and the wind monsters. I was so happy at the end of the ride, which she completed by going straight into the barn without zigzags or bunnyhops, that I could have cried.


I finally know what to do with her. I don't need to "turn her into a trail horse" because she is one. I need to ride outside every chance I get and for a lonnng time and we'll both be happy. This has to be the best feeling in the world. While she may be nutty and quirky, there's never a dull moment with Brie. She really is a gift given to me to give me patience and hope that no matter how difficult an obstacle might be, I will get over it some day if I only have some patience and understanding.