Goodness gracious! Today, I rode Tarzan during Claire's lesson. I also found out some interesting info... that shall be shared another time! =D Anyways, I rode Tarzan and Claire rode Pete - Annika couldn't make it, and since she shares the lesson with Claire, it was just me & Claire riding, with Erica 'instructing' Claire and helping me along a bit as well.
Everything started out HORRIBLE. First, when we got Pete out of his stall (it was a rainy day today, so all of the ponies stayed inside so they wouldn't get all muddy and yucky), we discovered that on his left flank he had a big chunk of fur taken off of his skin and the pinkish/reddish skin was showing! It looked gross, and when Erica saw it, she put this purple stuff on the 'wound' that helps it heal. =) Then, after that, I got Tarzan all saddled up and it took about 15 minutes just to get him to stand still so that I could get on his back (grrr).
When we got a'riding, Tarzan kept doing his stop'n'go thing, where he'll try and trot, and then stop, and not move, and then start all over again. I got frustrated, and the frustration went to my head, and I got all tense and Tarzan must've sensed it, because he kept getting worse. Finally, I got him to walk just for about twice around the arena, and that was enough to make me gather my wits, clear my mind, and relax for a moment. After that, we did pretty well. Tarzan obeyed, and Erica suggested that we not canter today - just for good measure, and just so that we could end on a good note. =D I opted not to canter as well, and I put Tarzan away with no problem. =D
I think, though, that Tarzan wasn't the one acting up - I, the 'operator,' was having major problems. I was just sending Tarzan the wrong signals, and he was so confused that he didn't know what to do. Add to the equation the fact that I was tense for some of the time, and you get this: A MESS!
On another note, I have some of my 'info' to share!!! Did you guys know that Pete and Tarzan are 3/4 brothers are whatever? Really! Honestly! That's why they look so much alike, you know! That's probably why almost no one can tell them apart unless you know them REALLY well... oh well, though. So, Tarzan & Pete have the same father. They each have a different mother, but their mothers were sisters! Amazing, huh? Well, I think that's cool... but I'm not exactly sure you'd call that 3/4 brothers... call them whatever you'd like, but the point is that they're pretty close! Pete and Tarzan were bought at the same time that Mallory was bought, at some random auction. =D Pete and Tarzan are both 9 yrs old, having been born in 2001. How's THAT for random?
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