Saturday, August 30, 2008

Love my Western pony!

Today I rode Bestie. I went to the barn intending to ride Dude, but he seemed so happy outside I didn't have the heart to bring him in early to ride. I got her all tacked up, then ran out and got Dude since all the horses were beginning to be brought in. He pretty much went into nap mode as soon as I got him into the stall and turned on his fan!

Bestie was awesome! We set a new record for trotting at a nice Western jog--all the way around the indoor without her getting fast. I tried really hard to sit back and stay relaxed, and the one time I felt her start to pick up her pace, I sat back and concentrated on relaxing and she slowed down! That is truly an amazing achievement that only I would recognize! The other achievement was that we walked and trotted and walked and trotted several rounds. Usually I can only get her to trot once at a slow pace and then she won't do a repeat. All the stars aligned today!

Because the weather has been nice for a couple weeks, new hay has started to come in, thank goodness. Hopefully hay cutters can get one more round in before the fall; usually it's no problem, but this round was so late this year, it's hard to tell if the grass will grow enough to cut again. Bestie's dinner flakes were great; Dude's were damp feeling and full of cut up twigs. That drives me crazy. I shook it out and it didn't seem moldy (although it probably would become so if left in the hay loft). I picked all the crappy stuff out of it and took some of his and gave it to Bestie, and gave him some of hers. Then I traded his night flake for a better, drier flake. Glad I was there when they got fed!

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