To ride dressage is to dance with your horse, equal partners in the delicate and sometimes difficult work of creating harmony and beauty.

Monday, July 1, 2013

Thank goodness for the coastal breeze!

It's gotten HOT! I thought about getting up early yesterday morning to get a ride in during the coolest part of the day, but didn't figure Lance would appreciate working before breakfast. So I rode last evening. Thankfully, we usually get a stiff coast breeze most summer evenings; which brings the temperatures inside and out back down to a reasonable level. The wind makes for dusty rides, but also keeps flies and mosquitoes (and heat) from annoying us; I'll take the wind!

Before riding him last night and again this morning, we worked on trailer loading. (I conveniently left the trailer hitched, since we have another lesson tomorrow.) Lance doesn't load like I like my horses to load, which is to say I open the trailer door, throw the lead rope over his back, point him at the opening and let him load himself. So I'm using patience, food, and corrective backing if he takes even one backwards step. Most often, he just plants himself at the back of the trailer; if I wait him out (the patience part), he eventually gives up and walks on. But there may come a time when loading quickly is of the essence, so we must get past the balkiness.

This morning I cut Lance's mane before turning him out for the day. I think his new haircut gives him a cute, preppy look – which is totally at odds with his dweeby, center-part, "Alfalfa" forelock!
I love my "little rascal"! (Some of my readers are waaay too young to get the reference! heh)

4 comments:

Mary said...

Little rascal indeed! Good luck with the trailer loading. I also need to add some polish to that. Woodrow is a self loader, and I taught him that. Nick will become better at it when I have time for more practice and to go fun places. I always stop at Dutch Bros to get a muffin for Woodrow when we trailer that direction. The baristas love to see him with his nose out for the goodie.

A :-) said...

What is that think you have on his head? A cover of some sort?

Michelle said...

How funny! I've heard of dogs getting treats at drive-throughs, but this is the first I've heard of someone getting their HORSE a treat!

Michelle said...

Adriene, that's a fly mask. They can see through the mesh (like a window screen); it keeps the flies from their sensitive eyes.