Adventure Walks

ORI:
Misty, 1 hour (two 30 minute sessions), 1/7/11, afternoon
Blu, 1 hour, 1/7/11, afternoon

Today I wanted to take Blu on a walk to switch things up a bit. Misty was calling to me, though, so I grabbed a carrot stick and we did our little playing bit. I did try to get a circle from her, but it was quite choppy as she would take a step, stop, I would ask her to go again, one step, stop, etc. We ran around together and she backed up by her tail, doing nice turns with her tail, and also backing up with my hand in the air over 22’ away. Lots of sitting around, too, coming off adrenaline with our heads down. At the end, I asked her to stand on something. I asked once and waited while she thought about it and finally got two feet up.

Now, Blu was interested and wanted to be picked. Once on the feather lines, we did our circling around the buckets, circling with an ear-string, and then we grazed for five minutes. We got to a really good place with all the circling stuff a lot faster than last time, which was cool.

Blu was not very cooperative for putting the bridle on, at first because he would not keep his head down to get started (I was kneeling). Finally, he kept it down after patiently stayed persistent and calm. It really didn't get under my skin, at all. In any case, when I got on the picnic table, all I had to do was flick my glove over his back and he sidepassed to let me get on! YAY!

We just went on an adventure ride down the neighbor’s property. There is a paved path to his horse barn. An unpaved path shoots off and borders his pasture. The path runs between his fence and wooded area. Then there are several fields beyond that. It was his first time off the property in a while, so I was staying in touch with Blu and we handled his concerns with lots of savvy so there were no big events. For example, we worked through his concern about an overturned wheel barrow (ending with him grazing next to it) by going sideways back and forth while facing it. Eventually, we arrived at it and Blu was fine.

My plan was to go for a run in the field, but the ground was frozen in furrows. So, I compromised; we cantered up and down the straight, unpaved lane until he stopped his crowhopping/bucking (nothing I can’t sit :D) and was stopping without using the reins. At first, he was not stopping with just my seat and would kind of bounce to a halt on his forehand. Once everything was getting easy for him and the same, he began to relax and stop with just my seat, on his hind end, no less. That went nicely. I dismounted and walked with him on the way home.

Now, Misty was quite upset that she was left behind. She was not running around frantically, but she wanted to go out and about, too. I decided not to pony her, though because I knew Blu might not be on his best behavior nor in his best mindset for ponying (especially bareback). So, I compromised (sound familiar?) and took her on a walk. Unfortunately, as we came to the property, the dog came at us. That dog makes me a bit nervous because he acts very erratic. He is a "silver lab" and the weimereiner in that mixed breed only brings good color to the table. I miss their old yellow lab. So, because the dog was nervous about me coming onto the property, I decided to ditch that plan. I . . . COMPROMISED again! Misty and I walked around our property. Okay, we ran a lot, too. She loves to run with me, and I enjoy running with her. Lots of grazing, too.

Today was nice because work got out early enough for me to do all of this before going back in for second shift! It was fun to be out on the farm with the equines for so long.

Natural Horsewoman Out.