Luna as Cypress

Today we went to visit you and visited the farm.  Ana had a tough time getting Luna in from pasture, it seems that Grandmere wanted to play sillybuggers and get the group galloping around, making her chase them around.

She did eventually retrieve her, and after grooming and putting the tack on you rode her for a few minutes to see what was going on.  She was in quite a mood, probably due to changing weather, and was misbehaving (for her) quite a bit.  After she started listening better you adjusted the stirrups and I got on, since she was still being strange you put her on the lunge line for a little more control.

Cypress has startled and bucked a little on me but Luna really reacted.  I would squeeze her sides to get her moving forward and she'd act like I just goosed her.  When I got on her I was really focusing on the feel of my feet in the stirrups and balance and I'm really glad I did because it meant that when she startled or wiggled I was in the right place and never felt like I was off balance or in any danger.  That felt really good.

Didn't stay on her long and Ana rode her a little after I was done, but it was really nice to feel different tack, a different horse, a different environment, and not feel like a fish out of water and be able to work on something that I think helps me make progress towards being a better rider.

I had a lot of fun, thank you

Comments

[Luna]

Yesterday the humans came to visit, appearently only to see me. When the short loving human came to catch me, I tried to let her know that I'd rather stay with the other horses in the pasture. She was insistent, and followed me even though we galloped to the other side of the field, and I finally gave in.
Because it was going to snow that night and the weather was breezy and changing, I was particularly jumpy. And then there was a new human, a male who I wasn't familiar with. They tacked me up and Mom got on and rode me a little bit, I continued to try to tell her that I just wasn't in the mood, but she made me work anyway. Given the circumstances (the rest of my herd was out of sight, we were in the new arena, and the weather, and we haven't been practicing this stuff much) I thought I was being very reasonably behaved.
And then that big tall guy got on my back. He felt very tense to me, which of course made me feel tense, too. And every time I made a sudden move, he would sort of wobble forward, felt like his center of gravity was five feet above me (sort of unnerving) and when he wobbled forward his heels squeezed into my sides, which of course made me tuck my hind legs underneath me to push myself forward (I mean, that's what they've taught me, right?) And when I finally stopped and stood still, when he wanted me to move forward, he whacked his heels into my sides (ever heard of subtlety, buddy?). Then he's start wobbling around all over again. I have to say that I apprecaited that he stayed squarely centered on my back, didn't throw me off balance like some people do when they are all over the place. And when I settled down enough to listen, his cues to me were very clear (stopping and turning and such).
Finally the little person got on me and rode me a little bit. She was sort of tense, too, but I'm very used to her size and weight, and I know it is very important to Mom that I keep her on my back, so we went around in a few little circles and then they FINALLY let me go back to my pasture (did I mention I got a cookie first?)