Today, I'll post and tell ya'll about both Wednesday and Friday! Ready? Set? GO!
Wednesday
*Sigh.* Well, on Wednesday both Taylor (on Pete) and Madison (on Sonny) were out at the barn. I got there (late - AGAIN) and Erica had brought Zan into the barn for me. So I threw him in the cross ties and brought out the brushes. Zan wasn't too dirty, just up on his neck, so I ran the hardbrush over his body, worked on his neck with the rubber curry, and then used the softbrush on his body. It was pretty quick, easy, and painless. I saddled up and went into the arena.
What the heck? When I mounted with the mounting block, Zan walked over the mounting block and trotted on the rail a ways until I gathered my wits and my reins. It was sort of funny, but I'd had a very rushed day and lost my wits... but not my reins! Haha. NOT FUNNY.
When we cantered, it was MESSY and reckless and very very fast. I didn't like it at all; it was the worst canter I've had in a while. Our trots were fast and messy. Every time I cued him to trot, he'd throw his head up, flick his hooves around a bit, and then settle down when I pulled him to a walk to try the transition again. At one point, during our last few minutes of our ride, when I tried to canter, Zan kept getting the wrong lead over and over and over again. The time we finally got it right, Zan punctuated his annoiance with a buck or two. Sound familiar?
Friday/Yesterday
Yesterday was so much better than Wednesday.
I went out to the barn - not late! - and found Brandon there. Erica met us at the door and goes, "Anyone interested in cleaning stalls?" With sighs coming from our mouths and grins on our faces, Brandon and I grabbed pitchforks and cleaned stalls for 45 minutes. Guess what? We got ALL 11 stalls done! We would have 12 stalls to do, but Spider is at training (he's still quite green), so that's one less stall to do and a lot less poop to pick up for a month!
Rewind to while I was doing Joe's stall.
Taylor: "But mom! I don't want to ride for only 15 minutes! Mo-om!"
Kim (Taylor's mom): "Tay, I understand you're mad, but other people ride Pete, too!"
Taylor: "MOM!"
Kim: "Sorry, honey."
Whiner, much? Brandon and I - across two stalls - looked at each other, grimaced, and went back to work. You see, Isabel was going to ride Pete, and Taylor was there so late in the day that she would only get 15 minutes to ride. Well, she rides Pete all the time. It's about time she gets some disappointment and realizes that she can't be selfish and hog a horse that isn't even hers. Don't mean to sound mean, but she is a freaking whiner. She complains like a little kid! Alright, enough being mean.
Anyways, fast-forward to while I was cleaning April's stall.
Isabel: "Who's that?" (Pointing to Brandon, two stalls down.)
Me: "Erica's fiance, Brandon."
Isabel: "REALLY? He doesn't seem to be her type."
Me: "I know, right?!"
Isabel: "So, you have a show this weekend?"
Me: "Next weekend."
Isabel: "Win something for me!"
Me: "Haha, in my dreams. I am seriously doubting Zan's ability to help me win anything."
Isabel: "You'll do fine!"
Me: "Thanks, but I doubt it."
Isabel: "Ha!"
Me: "That's the part where you go, 'shun the non-believer!' Ha!"
Isabel: "We have got to get together some time!"
Me: "No kidding!"
That was one of the more pleasant conversations of the day. After Brandon and I finished stalls (accompanied by ever-pleasant Isabel, who talked with me while I mucked), I went and caught my pony with no difficulty. He managed to be up towards the back of his humongous field, though, and I had to trek all the way out there and all the way back. Great, right?
I had to use the rubber curry on Zan to get most of the embedded dirt off of his normally shiny coat. When your horse goes from caked in mud to shiny to covered in dust in just a few months, you know summer's just around the corner. While I was brushing, Taylor was riding, so Kim (Taylor's mom) came up to me and patted Zan and talked to me. We had a pretty, um, one-sided conversation, considering Kim talked and I popped in the occasional "uh huh, yea, and, go on". Kim then held the arena gate open for me while I led Zan into the arena.
When I got on Zan, he didn't move around much, and certainly didn't walk over the mounting block! We walked around the arena maybe four times, and then went into a nice, steady posting trot. It was so much nicer, and the transition! Oh, it was so nice and smooth! Such a better improvement from Wednesday's ride! That made me very, very happy.
Erica let us outside - the arena was getting dusty with four riders (Me, Isabel, Madison, and Gracie) - and we trotted around both ways out there. I got Zan to go over the poles three times, and I got him to 'jump' (really, just walking over really low jumps) twice! I was happy.
We went inside and Isabel cantered April. It was a pretty good canter. Then, she switched horses back with Gracie. I cantered while they were switching - just Zan's good way - and it was very, very good! Then I walked him out and untacked him. I grabbed the show halter and the lead line with a chain. Erica had to leave with Brandon to set up Parent's Night Out with Brandon, so Eric helped me with halter.
I won't describe the exact details of our work, but I will share on line of advice that Eric gave me:
"Go out there and parade around like you have the best of the best horse. Because you have to go out with that attitude in order to win. Make him look all puffed up and handsome, show him off, and strut around saying, 'Look at my horse! Look! Want some of this? 'Cuz you can't have it! We got the best of the best and you can't have any of it!' You have the best horse. You have the most handsome, smart, important horse out there. Believe you do, and you can win it."
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By the way, I ordered a really nice, dark leather show lead line with a brass-plated chain to match Zan's show halter! It should arrive at Julia and Eric's house in a couple days! You can see all about it here.
Also, I am thinking about ordering this halter for Zan - the color looks good on him - but I can't find a lead rope to match it anywhere! I've looked at Dover Saddlery, State Line Tack, Chick's Discount Saddlery, Schneider Saddlery, and Hartmeyer Saddlery. In case you weren't counting, that's five saddleries that don't have a simple burgundy lead rope. Yes, they have red. But red isn't the same as burgundy. It's lighter. This is absurd!
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