Monday, December 13, 2010

12/10/10 Ransom

Ransom rode with a particular snark Friday. You know, the attitude of, "I know something's coming, I can feel it in your behavior Mom. So watch me be a dork, just to challenge your confidence."

And me oh my did he start out the ride horrid. Head in the sky, hollow back transitions, a few gallops rather than canters, and a trot that was so irregular I couldn't even post it, let alone sit without bouncing about. Blech!

I did a longer set at the walk, stretch, collect, stretch, collect, stretch, collect, HALT. A few of these, followed by circles with his head turned slightly in the circle, and slightly out of the circle, and Ransom realized I wasn't playing games. I was serious.

Finally, he started to behave. I was able to ride test pieces that concerned me, and even finished up with some fantastic stretching trot circles. He rode for nearly 45 minutes, and the last 20 of that were awesome. An ugly start, but a fabulous end.

Ransom got a bath, he even got his mane braided.. But why would we go to all that trouble? Locked up in his stall and paddock, dressed and covered, he ate hay for the night, staring longingly at the trailer. What were we ever going to do with the fancy show horse?

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