Catching Up

“If everything seems to be under control,
you’re just not going fast enough.”
— Mario Andretti

If what Mario says is true, then I am, indeed, not going fast enough. The nature of learning is that when we get to that point, it's time to push our personal envelope to a new threshold. For me, that means tentatively attempting the canter a few wobbly steps at a time. Considering how long it's taken me to feel relatively secure at the trot, I'll be eligible for Medicare by the time I get the canter.

Both Poco and Jaz have been giving me really sweet, perfectly paced trots. I haven't asked Jaz for the canter, nor has he volunteered it. Poco seems to understand what I'm trying to do, and transitions to the canter without increasing his speed. As soon as he feels me start to bobble, he picks up the trot again.

Lest you think he's turned over a new leaf, he still makes me work for it. It wouldn't be Poco if there wasn't some Appytude.

When he thinks we're done, Poco veers closer and closer to the gate, refusing to turn, as we're rounding that end of the arena. When that starts, I have to turn him before we get to that end (in other words, using only 3/4 of the length of the arena) in order to keep him going. I think he's becoming bored and impatient, because for weeks now, we've done nothing but circles while I practice W-T-C. Every once in awhile while we're riding, he does this little high pitched squeal thing that reminds me of a noise a frustrated child might make. Maybe next time, we'll play with the barrels and ground poles for a change. The Boyz will be coming home soon, and we'll start going down the road again. I'm also planning on getting barrels for out back.

Baby D became a gelding last Friday. I was prepared to lavish lots of TLC and sympathy, but the little booger hasn't missed a beat. Besides the fact that his sheath is swollen, he's perfectly fine. He also got his wolf teeth removed and his rabies vaccine. By all accounts, he should have already been a pretty unhappy little guy, but he seemed to not be phased. Then, he and his nannies got dewormed and all their other vaccines. Aside from a little loose poo, everybody's fine. Only thing they all lack now is a current Coggins.

On a non horse-related note, I started a new job that's been keeping me busy, excited, and tired. That's one reason I haven't been blogging as much. Another is that I've been out there actually doing stuff, rather than sitting at the computer writing about it. And, finally, not much terribly newsworthy has been happening, or if it has, it's not my news to tell; it's Heather's. I haven't been diligent in keeping up with everyone else's blog, but you can only do what you can do.

Have a great week, and don't forget to smooch your ponies.