Sunday, May 31, 2009

Good Bestie, primo Western horse, makes an appearance

Yesterday I rode. I was going to lunge Bestie first, but got lazy and also realized that if I lunged her, my timing would be way off and I wouldn't be in the saddle when Katie was riding Dude, and I would miss heading off around the field with her, which I enjoy.

And what happened? Although I got on board with great trepidation, I had a great ride! It was so good that I am still smiling happily about it today! She was responsive, not in a snit about ANYTHING and we had a couple really good little Western jogs ... the whole enchilada: head down, relaxed, SLOW, super comfy!! I wanted to shriek to Katie, who was in the ring: "Do you see this?? DO YOU SEE THIS??!" But I figured that might stress Bestie out. Hee.

After a bit we headed out to go around the field and Bestie was still very much in a "Hey whatever" frame of mind. Not trying to rush along and get past Dude, just very content to walk along with the reins swinging.

Now, the million dollar question is, WHY? Why was she perfect yesterday? What stars aligned to lead to that? And the answer is: I DON'T KNOW. And that's why we'll probably keep on having our alternately crazy mare/good mare rides. I'll keep thinking about it and maybe some day I'll figure it out, but for the life of me, it just hasn't become apparent yet. But it is clearly worth continuing to put some thought into it, simply because I have caught these glimpses of what a pleasure riding her can be. Today she's out in the field, and I'm just going to bring her in and brush her and bask in the afterglow :).

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