Day 171

It must be the change in weather because Harry and Brie were acting quite goofy today. (Nina, as usual, was great).

I got on Harry first. He was working lovely on the longe line and settling into circles, figure 8s and serpentines beautifully. Then taking him out on the wall he just wanted to get away from me and I was having a bit of trouble keeping him back. Then he started walking on the wall with his head to the wall instead of being straight and I didn't realize it at the time, but later on my mom blamed me for that because last week after I tried to get him to walk on the wall, most of the time I had his head into the wall to make him move over and he probably figured that's what I wanted so that's what he did today.

Allison was out today to visit and she rode one of the other boarder's horse, Extremo. We switched (I didn't like Extremo when I got on him) and she rode Harry. I felt so bad about 10 seconds after she got on. I thought she had more experience with antsy horses like Harry, and by antsy I mean horses that are willing to dump you when they get mad/nervous/confused. She kept clenching up and hanging on his mouth to try to get him to slow down and he just kept getting more and more mad. My mom decided we all needed to get out of the arena and into the round pen, and Allison wasn't too keen on riding Harry outside on our trail ride anymore, unsurprisingly. When she got out the door with him (he was behind Nina and I was in the back of him with Extremo), she must've gotten nervous and he got freaked out and started trying to rear and she looked bewildered and I just kept yelling "Pull him to the side!" She didn't manage to pull his head all the way to the girth, but moved him over enough for him to not go up all the way.

Once she got him into the round pen and my mom really explained what to do with him (as I'm not that great on relating to people about riding), he started to calm down and she had a couple of laps of a good ride, then we switched horses again. I ended up on Brie and my mom on Harry, while Allison was back on Extremo. We decided to go on a trail ride. Right after I got on Brie she started hopping and skipping and cantering in place. That lasted pretty much the entire ride. It consisted of me running into a lot of branches, narrowly avoiding the neighbor's barbed wire fence, and only getting some calm when we went back into the trees and she didn't know where she was anymore. At least it's good to know that she'll behave if she's in a new surrounding, but she was a total brat! I tell you, it's got the be the weather. She hasn't acted that brattily in a while.

Meanwhile, my brother and Nina look like the picture of relaxation. Nina was trotting along and even going a slow canter, just wandering around the property being a total doll. Harry looked like he started to calm down, Extremo was doing a cute little canter, and Brie wanted to eat everyone for lunch. After ending our trail ride and taking a couple of passes around the outdoor arena, it was time for everyone to get their baths.

What a crazy day. Hopefully tomorrow whoever I end up with gives me a great ride before I start back at school again!