Saturday Afternoon Ride

Finally got some horse time today!

A friend from college and I went out to the barn this afternoon and played with the horses. She got to see them lunged for the first time and experience plow-reining for the first time on Orion.

I was afraid she was going to be like "What the heck have I gotten myself into??" when I lunged O because he was completely and totally FULL of himself today.  Kicking out, bucking, running to the other side of the paddock...  

I put out trotting poles to give him something more to think about, and even that didn't work.  He behaved when led over them but went back to the other behaviors when I tried to switch over to lunging him over them....so since he wanted to run anyway, I made him do it around me on the line.  He did 5 or 6 laps before stopping because he's becoming a fatty and was out of breath. :P  

I went after him to see if he still had the desire to run, and all he would do was trot.  Once it was out of his system, he was fine.  He trotted in controlled circles, paid attention to everything I did, and came in as soon as he was given the invitation.

I lunged Kit for a couple minutes after that. I rode her today, so I wanted to make sure she wasn't of the same mind set Orion had been.  She was a perfect little lady and did exactly as she was told, even going over the poles that had been laid out for Orion without me pushing her to.

We headed out after that.  It's hunting season so we couldn't really go in the woods.  We stayed on the road and went to the top of the mountain.  She got to see where the Rocky Mountain horses are kept and where the beginning of one of the trails I ride on is.  Both horses were pretty good.  O tried to turn for home a couple of times, but A handled him perfectly and made him listen.  I'm pretty sure he loved her.  He's a lot better about listening to other people now than he used to be.

Until the past few months, the only people he was really affectionate with were me and a guy friend I had out there in the spring.  Even that shocked me at the time, because he was the first person other than me O had taken a shine to.  Now he's good with most people, it seems.