Quite the Contrary

Cold snap! It was only 102° today.

I hit the ground running this morning and was unloading tack at Iron Ridge by 7:30. I had decided I would only ride Poco today. Lest you think Jaz was off the hook, Kris arrived as I was tacking up Poco and asked if she could ride Jaz. Why, sure! Our new friend Sarah arrived next. She showed Kris the finer points of English tack, since I didn't bring both saddles, and Heather's western saddle doesn't fit Jaz.

Meanwhile, Pokey and I were already doing laps in the arena. As soon as he realized something was going on with his buddy, the crap started. He called out and got the whole damn barn started. Every time we passed the gate, he'd veer and stop. He tried to convince me he had no idea what I wanted and made me steer every step we took. Dude, we're walking and trotting in circles. It ain't rocket science. It got better when Jaz and Kris joined us in the arena, but he acted up whenever I tried to do anything that took his nose out of Jaz's butt. I had no choice but to be in/on his face the entire time.

By this time, Sarah joined us on Nita's mare, Keeley, and Heather rode her dad's horse, the ever-dependable Doodles. I set up barrels, thinking that perhaps if I engaged Poco enough, I could actually get some real work done, as if matching wills with him somehow isn't real work. Yeah, it is. At one point, Kris left the arena for something, leaving Jaz just outside the arena grazing. We've been doing this with all the horses — they won't go anywhere. Poco decided that if Jaz got to stop and eat, he should, too. He was a complete turd. We did lots of yo-yos, lots of backing. There was even a moment where he set his body in a way that teased, "I could rear if I wanted to." I jumped off and made him back the entire length of the arena. I rode him for a lot longer than I normally would have just to make sure I cemented my win in that walnut of a brain.

Both Boyz got hosed down and grazed themselves as we yakked. Then I pulled Daltrey out of his stall and hand-grazed him. He's still in the stage where he's learning that people are allowed to touch him anywhere they want, and kicking is not a wise option. He also doesn't yet know where his feet are, or that it's not acceptable to mow past people. Part of the problem is that he's growing so quickly that about the time he figures out how much space his body takes up and where his feet are, it changes. I'm desensitizing him to clippers; he got his first bridle path today. He's learning to yield to pressure — "over" and "back". One of these days, we need to start walking in and out of the trailer in preparation for the ride here.

I've had better days, but I've also had worse. My barn buddies are just as much fun, and the beer tastes pretty good either way.