Recapturing the DOR's youth

The DOR put the buckin riggin on me. I was not too sure what she was thinking. Yes it is spring, yes I have been known to buck, but really what good was that itty bitty little strap and handle going to do her if I decided to cut loose?  Was she really going to ride me with no saddle and just a halter?  Her confidence was as large as her weight if she was doing that.

Turns out that it was just a security blanket for her.  She has never ridden me bareback.  I am a bit sensitive to the leg and she has worried about me squirting out from under her.  In her younger days, back before cell phones and Internet, she rode her horses bareback quite often and loved it.  I guess she is feeling the need to recapture a bit of her youth now that her hair is mostly grey.

So after a bit of maneuvering I lined up to the fence so she could get on.  Yes it is true, she climbed up on the rail fence-can you believe it?  I gave her a bit of a small squirt just to keep her on her toes, after all if I was too good she would wonder what happened to her bad boy Boogie.



I surprised her with a nice slow jog.  She was able to ride on a loose rein with princess fingers and a big grin.  She has a great time and even handled things well when I started to do my freight train trot.

 

 

We had a great time and it did a lot to help strengthen our relationship.

Enjoy your day and don't forget to hug your DOR!

 

 



Appy Valentines Day

Enjoy your day and don't forget to hug your DOR!

Giving comfort

 

This is me comforting Mushboy's Icelandic Tahkoe.  She had just had a saddle malfunction and was a bit worried.  She was being lunged and her saddle started slipping off to the side.  Seems the saddle pad was not allowing for a snug cinching because of her mutton withers.  Boy can I empathize with that! 

The DOR had been riding me with an impact gel pad that she thought I would really like.  The saddle was a bit loose, caused by the fact that the pad was thick and I am mutton withered.  When she went to dismount the saddle rolled clear under my belly.  I started doing the spider dance, snorting and hopping up and down.  Remember this is when I first came to live with the DOR.  Luckily the Horse Guardian was there to help us and it all turned out okay.

So while the Rodeo Rider set the saddle in place and re-cinched I gave comfort to Tahkoe and told her that humans are sometimes goofy.  I reminded her that saddles can't hurt us.  I explained how mutton withers make cinching hard sometimes and that if she would blow out her air it would help.  I was pleased with how well she was listening.  Then as the Rodeo Rider went to snug up the cinch Tahkoe took in a deep breath and held it, smirking at the same time.  The little stinker was going to see if the saddle would roll when the Rodeo Rider went to mount.  He lead her over to the mounting bock and instead of stepping into the stirrup he just swung his leg over....well played Rodeo Rider, well played.  Tahkoe was a bit miffed that her prank failed.

I have a feeling that these two are going to be trying to out fox each other often in the future.

Enjoy your day and don't forget to hug your DOR!

Come dance with me

 The weather was wonderful today and the DOR came out to ride.  The horse guardian is part of the SunSation Drill Team and I needed to help her and Chez Beau practice. 

It was my job to go whizzing by Beau while he had to keep going the same speed.  I whipped around him in all sorts of directions...it was fun.

The I partnered up with him to help him on his quadrille parttern.  I liked it because the DOR had to concentrate on where Beau was and being in the right position instead of messing with my mouth!  She even had to look some where else other than between my ears at the ground right in front of my nose.

I even worked on the pattern with Beau while he carried a flag.  Not my favorite thing and I gave him lots of space.  I have heard that flags have been know to try and eat horses.  I was also a bit confused because a flapping flag means I am either supposed to hurry up or yeild some part of my body.  In this instance I was supposed to keep the same speed and travel on a certain path, regardless what the flag was doing.  I tell you humans expect some darn silly things.

The DOR asked me to give a try at carrying the flag.  At first I wasn't even going near it.  I did finally give it a valiant try, I did not like it at all but I know when the DOR asks me to do really tough things I always get extra treats.

I ended the afternoon by having the DOR practice ponying a horse.  We ponied Beau and the Horse Guardian rode with her eyes closed.  I am going to start ponying Marvelous Marvin several times a week to get him ready to return to his job at the mountain.

The DOR is going to be sore tomorrow I bet, she posted the entire time we trotted a good hour.

She was so pleased with our ride I got a whole handful of treats.

Enjoy your day and don't forget to hug your DOR!