Getting Back Into It -- Back to Basics: Missy

Tuesday, I begged my mom to take me to SunnyBrook after school. Usually, this tactic doesn't work too well. But, to my surprise, she offered to take me home to find my boots and then she said she'd take me out there! I was thrilled. So, we sped home and I scrambled around the house, finally locating my boots and SunnyBrook sweatshirt / North Face (it's not actually a North Face, but it's a knockoff). I also grabbed my grooming bag and a book to read in the car. Off we went!

When we arrived, I opened the gate and, as soon as we were parked in front of the barn, I dashed inside, put my grooming bag down, and ran outside to the gate to the horses' pasture. Chief nickered and came running; as soon as I was through the gate, he was all over me. The others ran to the other side of the pasture; the part behind the barn, which was open to the round pen / arena. Chief, meanwhile, shoved his head into me and then rested his head on my shoulder. His big, baby, brown eyes looked at me and I gave him a big hug and a kiss on the nose before pulling away and walking over to find Missy. Chief followed me and eventually cantered so that he was in front of me. I called his name, and he slid to a stop (it was muddy), turned, and walked back to me, and then followed me all the way around to the back of the barn. There, I found Lucy trotting. She was limping badly; the mushy ground is not being easy on her feet, but it's better than the way her feet were when she was stuck in a stall all the time.

I quickly walked up to Missy, and realized she didn't have a halter on. No problem. I walked her through the round pen and into the barn. There, I walked into the grooming stall and she followed me; I stopped, she stopped. I told her to stay there for a second and she stood perfectly still and quiet, looking around a bit, while I went and found a halter. I put the halter on her and attached the cross ties. I went as fast as I could tacking her up and then led her out to the 'arena'. You know, the one that has no fence. So I attached a lunge line to her bridle and lunged her for a good fifteen minutes at the walk and trot mostly. We cantered once each way and she looked like she might be a little stiff in her back legs. No problem; we did some more walk/trot work and she quickly had it sorted out. So I let her walk a bit and then unhooked the lunge line and hung it over the fence, along with the lunge whip. I donned my helmet and hopped right on.

Man, even after all that lunging, she was still feeling fresh and ready to go. So we walked some, did a few neck stretches and walking rollbacks, and then I had her trot. BOOM explosion. No trot; we got a canter. I asked her nicely to stop. She sped up. I commanded her to stop; she certainly didn't even think about stopping. One-rein stop time. That quickly got her attention on me. I asked her to back up, then put her head down, and then turned her in a circle. We stood still for a minute while she licked and chewed a bit with her head down and the reins loose. Then, I quietly asked her to walk on, and she started forward with a perfectly energized walk. We walked around once and then once more, I asked for a trot. It was perfect. She was slow yet she had energy and rhythm. I loved it. So we did some circles and the ground was a bit squishy but not as squishy as the field because of the dead hay that was still left on the ground. 

We walked and trotted the other way and she was a perfect angel. When I asked for a canter, she was nice. We did simple lead changes instead of flying ones because I sort of sensed that she was insecure with her footing; plus, her lead changes our last few rides have been sort of sloppier than when we were actively running barrels. We did nice figure-8's and some serpentines. Then, Asia arrived as I was cooling Missy down after trotting an invisible barrel pattern. She stood there and talked my ears off for 20 minutes. Finally I just hopped down and made some lame excuse. I went into the barn, stripped Missy's tack off, put it all away, locked the cabinet, and then turned Missy back outside after giving her treats and love. 

Overall, it was a great day. I loved it. I can't wait to get back into barrel season. It's been way. too. long. since I've seen a single barrel. I miss that clover-leafed pattern.:(

Pictures!

Who says I don't have enough tack?

I love my Missy mare. <3

I'm on Spring Break as of... 3 pm! Go Spring Break '11!:)