I got to the ranch almost on time, 11:15. Duke was tied near the gate so no having to dance through the tall, prickly weeds. I brought him over to the hitching rack in the shade so I could eat my breakfast and get my brain in check for out time together. There was a lot going on, some visitors and some people to pick up cattle. He never moved but was watching the cattle loading with interest. I groomed and put the surcingle on him. The arena was occupied by momma and baby. The kids showed up and helped (did it all) clean the round pen. I have not used the round pen lately, but after last weeks shenanigans it seemed like a great idea. We lunged but he was very lazy/ distracted and I did not do as much as we could have, as I was having to chase his every step.
It took a while to tack him up since I had to make so many trips to the jeep. When we were finally ready a couple of the visitors took turns sitting in the new saddle. Everyone really liked it! N said it was very comfortable as well. I got on at the mounting block. Duke has been giving me a touch of crap about standing still at any mounting block. We worked on it a little but on the third try he held still and we moved on. I walked, stretched ourselves and trotted in the round pen. By then the kids were tacked and ready to go ride in the arena. I opted to go with them.
We got some decent work in. There were a few almost collisions, and a lot of traffic jams, so being the biggest horse in the pack we erred on the side of caution. We worked on leg yielding which N said looked good, as well as framing up. I have let him have the reins after framing so he came stretch himself which he does a lot. Now he is asking all the time and I think he is trying to take advantage so I will have to keep an eye on it. We finished a little before I wanted to but due to the traffic I was not sure I would be able to get in what I wanted and ended on a good note. N wanted me to canter him some but my blood sugar was running a little high and I was so thirsty, all I wanted was to drink some water.
My take aways for this ride was :
- N said I had much more contact with the bit. I felt it. He was not leaning or pulling but there is definitely a big horse head up there.
- We had little to no impultion. I don't know if it was me worring about running over small children on ponies or if I am not asking enough.
- This is the second ride were I felt I did not have his attention. He seemed to want to look at anything and therefore stick his nose in the air, hollow and get strung out. I think there are many possible reasons:
- He is building muscle and that is hard
- He is lazy and so am I and building muscle is hard
- He is getting in shape and feeling good
- I am nervous he will 'look' and act up and I can't handle it so I anticipate
All in all we had a good ride. Duke got a good hosing off, linamint, fly spray and granola bars. I was telling one of the kids how much I like his mane roached. Later N came over and said how much she liked it too! So for now we are going to keep it short! It looks so nice on him.
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