Fun with Bestie

Sunday I got to the barn early in the afternoon and snuck by Bestie's stall since she usually naps then. I went ahead and mucked Dude's stall, did a few other chores, then crept down the aisle right along the stalls to peek in and see if she was still lying down. Imagine my surprise when I peeked around the corner and there she was, staring back at me, not two inches away. I jumped and she did her crazy-girl high-pitched whinny, so I guess we were both surprised. Funny.

I had lunged her on Friday and the horses had gone out Sunday, so I saddled her up to ride figuring that she'd be fine. It took me three attempts to actually get on her back; as soon as I'd climb the mounting block, she'd walk off before I could get my foot in the stirrup. I just kept jumping down and leading her back around, and finally was successful. After one walk around the indoor, my stirrups felt cockeyed, so I jumped down and raised one then got back on. Right back on--no shenanigans involved this time! There were two other people riding so I decided to walk her around the field and then come back to the arena.

We got outside and I could feel her, tight like a spring. She walked just fine about halfway, but as soon as we rounded the fence on the far side of the outdoor rings, she started jigging and snorting and yanking her head up and down. I considered getting off (of course thinking all the while, "I REALLY should have lunged her") but decided to stay on and just kept talking to her. We basically jigged all the way back to the walkway into the arena. When I tried to slow her down she'd snort and toss her head all around like a nut.

Once we got into the arena, she settled down, but she definitely thought we were DONE. I just kept plugging away at it, asking her to do circles and one more round, and then I rode her back out and around the front door to the barn. And she was fine. She heaved a huge sigh when we got to the door; like this had been the most stressful outing she had EVER been on. I kinda felt the same way.