Hum.

Well, yesterday was an interesting learning experience- namely, getting on Rush after she's been sitting in her stall for four days is not necessarily a recipe for disaster, but it is definitely not a recipe for a productive riding experience. When I got on she BOLTED off like she used to, resulting in me slamming myself in the saddle whilst trying to pull her down to a not deathly terrifying speed so that I could get my other stirrup and have some sense of balance. Though, to be fair, it wasn't as bad as the time she took off and I ended up sitting behind the saddle while she was hopping around attempting to get me off.. that was super exciting! Let it be noted that it's extremely difficult to lift yourself over the cantle of the saddle when you're sitting behind it.

Basically, she spun around and fidgeted and veered speedily around the ring, completely ignoring any ounce of control I thought I might have. And then she walked, not necessarily calmly, but she walked. She was so tense that trotting was a disaster at first, full of bracing and leaning and little canter outbursts when she had hissy fits from going 'too slow' (aka not racehorse speed). I decided fighting with her wasn't doing either of us any good so we then proceeded to SUPER TROT around the ring, and it probably looked adorable, but really the only reason that she was going reasonably was because I left her alone completely and just rode her forward until I could feel her tiring out. And then, miraculously, cantering wasn't half bad- especially in her good direction (right) where she put up no fuss about going at a reasonable pace. We ended on a little crosspole, which she jumped like a champ. I'm glad that the ride was salvageable, although I have definitely learned my lesson about cutting corners in order to save time.

I'm also back in charge of Brie, since the girl who was riding her has now taken on like 7 jobs in the hopes of buying another horse which is just ridiculous. I got on her yesterday very very briefly to put her through her paces and she was very agitated and spookish, but I can tell she's come a long way from where she began. She did have several bucking fits, but I could tell they were coming because she had a hump in her back from the very beginning of the ride. I'm still not sold on her going in a loose ring, but I can't figure out what type of but she'd enjoy; she absolutely HATES D-rings, happy mouths, even the straight bar I tried.. I would try a french link but I don't have one. So. We'll see how it goes, I guess.

I am in NY for a week visiting relatives for Thanksgiving, so there will unfortunately be no horse play until I get back next Saturday