Full-time trainer for a day.

Yesterday I rode 5 horses and enjoyed every moment of course. :) Here is a round-up:

Hampton: Walk and trot work was good - smooth leg yields and easy shoulder-ins. I really worked on using my outside aids and he was uphill, poll the highest point and forward. His ears were pricked and he seemed happy to be working with me. The canter is ... well, still a mystery to me. On my first canter attempt (to the left), he did this weird thing. He came above the bit and totally cocked his head to the left. I don't mean his neck, just his head. So I was staring at the left side of his face. Weird. I tried it again. Same thing. Lateral canter. *groan* ... he's trying to tell me something. I decided to canter to the right and see if the same thing happened. That went well - pretty much a normal canter. Not super collected, but totally acceptable for a 4-year-old. We trotted a bit more and then I went back to the left lead canter. Much better transition. Better rhythm. It started to get lateral, and then I counter flexed him and it went away. Hmmm ... I still plan on getting some hock X-rays done, but I have to wonder if this canter wonky-ness also stems from being tight in his back right behind the saddle. Which would explain why the chiro fixes the problem. Anyway, I'm just going to stick with walk trot work for a while until I can get the money for those X-rays. We may canter a little bit, but I don't want to canter "badly" because I don't want his muscles to remember that as being the right thing to do. 

Me showing Phoebe a year or so ago.

Phoebe: This is the BO's own personal horse that I ride every once in a while. She was forward and peppy yesterday which makes riding her so much easier. I also took her down the driveway and worked on walk-trot transitions. She was lovely and uphill (she is naturally quite uphill, especially for a Paint). 

Zippy: I'm not sure when the last time this dude was ridden but it took me probably 10 minutes to sort him out. There was head tossing and a few violent spooks and then things clicked with him and he was a good boy. Until we cantered. Dang left lead again - he was going well, then sucked back in a major way. That meant he got a growl and a good pony club kick from me. He answered that with a HUGE buck. I stuck it, gave him hell and went on with it. He never tried it again and was nice and forward the rest of the ride. Green bean moment. :) He was otherwise lovely.

Marisol: (I need to get photos and give this girl a profile soon!) ... This mare is turning into a favorite of mine. I work mostly on relaxation and rhythm with her. And I rarely ride with any contact on her mouth (she has a tongue injury amongst other baggage). We did lots of slow trotting, cantering and even popped over a jump a few times. She LOVES to jump and is really good at it. So I use it as a reward for her. (Plus it's fun). I took her on a short trail ride down the driveway and she was clearly barn sour but held it together decently I guess.

Noah gets kisses from me!

Noah: The big guy is staying with me another month and yesterday I rode him for the first time in the big arena. He was great - we walked around and worked on steering and stopping. He was quiet and well behaved. We had a little drama lunging, but worked through it. He also is not happy when left alone in a stall for more than 10 minutes or so. In fact yesterday he pawed and pawed at the door so hard that it broke open. I caught him just as he was walking out of the stall. Geez.

Tomorrow I have another day off and plan to spend it again at the farm. I might not ride 5 horses again but I will ride a few! Five horses isn't a lot to professional trainers, but it is A LOT when you have to walk out in the big field to catch each one, walk back, groom, tack up, ride, untack, cool out, etc. etc. I was EXHAUSTED at the end of the day. But I liked it. :)