Day 170

Sunday

First -- I have pictures! I'll put them in a separate post so this doesn't get too long.

I didn't make it out yesterday because I was working concessions for the team. That is something I won't even get started with...I was at the football arena for 8 hours! But overall, I'm really excited to be on the team again, everyone seems like they want to make an effort to remain drama-free this year, which is awesome.

My neck still kind of hurt today, but against better judgement I rode Brie without a bit. Not for any particular reason, I just felt like it. Brie was slightly confused and her headset wasn't very good at all, but she still had a good behavior, which is all I wanted. My mom and brother have been working on some kind of dressage circling exercise for the back legs with Nina and Harry, so when I joined in Brie's first thought was "Canter circles yay!" and proceeded to be confused when I wanted her to largo, not canter in a circle, but she obliged. I had to put a bit back on her before anyone else got on because they didn't want her to be totally off the walls with them.

I rode Harry today. It was such a weird feeling. Like...after not riding a horse for a while, you feel bad about it, even though someone else is. I got that a lot when I was training Harry last summer and my mom rode Brie all the time, and now I have it with Harry because my mom's been training him while I ride Brie. It's like a kind of guilt. I don't get that with Nina, though, because I never really ride her, just pet her since my brother is like a dictator over who rides Nina.

Harry knew that I hadn't been on him in a while and tried to get away with going sideways on the wall. I was more focused on getting him on the wall than his gait, and since he's very sensitive to leg pressure, he kept speeding up when I tried to make him yield to my leg. It was all very frustrating for a good 15 minutes and then he kind of got the idea and while he wasn't really on the wall, at least he was close to it and going straight.

His gait across the board was great, and his largo seems like it's really coming along with everything my mom's been doing. Paco finally confessed yesterday that he thought that if Harry was properly trained as a baby he would be a Fino horse, but since he's already 7, you can't really do much to change that, so he'll stay in Performance. It was a bittersweet moment, where I'm happy that he's Performance, but really kind of bummed that he could've been this amazing Fino horse. Either way, he's still my teddy bear. Really, once you get to know him, he acts like one and kind of looks like one with his huge brown eyes.

What I was really impressed with was how he acted on our little ride outside. As you may remember, he's really nervous going outside and likes to be thisclose to Nina all the time for fear if she leaves, the Sun might swoop down and eat him alive. But today he was only a tiny bit nervous when we started out and then really calmed down! Brie, on the other hand, was crazy enough for the both of them. Harry was totally calm when we walked by the pond (that Nessie lives in and might eat him at any minute) and even led everyone up the little hill in back and around back to the barn! I was so proud of him, I can't even describe it.

It's gonna be hard now, because I'm going back to school. Fall Quarter is always hard because I like to stay for the football games on Saturdays, so I only get Sundays to ride. I wanted to start doing some more Parelli work with Harry because I started such a while back and never got to finish because show season took over. I think it'd be really good for his mental state.