9/2 Field Trip

Harley was longed Thursday evening, 9/1. Good effort, no neck stretcher, just halter. It was still pretty hot so I kept it short. 9/2, we all loaded up. R, me, Harley and Romeo. We drove about 40minutes to a nearby equestrian park. They run a pretty good deal on arena rental when nothing is scheduled. Got the paperwork all settled, drove to the warmup arena. Tied both boys to the inside rail, gathered up all my tack, and headed in. Hand walked both boys around, and gave them a look around. Saddled Harley up and headed to it. He longed great. Put the neck stretcher on, and noticed he was blowing his right lead. His way of saying he needs more canter right. Hopped on, and gave him a bit more walk to look around. Good, quiet, relaxed. Went right to it, picked up trot, with some amazing results. Harley stepped right out, forward trot, yet upright. Nice. Realizing it could take a while, I looked at R, and said, "Check this out!" Sit, kiss, squeeze... canter left. Blown lead. Back to trot easily, and second request was good. Rode the left lead quite a while, all around the arena. Eased to trot, and changed directions on a long walk break. A little free walk, but nothing great. Trot right circles good, right canter required a lot of sit and push. What was amazing? No spook, no bolting, no fear. All three gaits, like he'd been there his whole life. Outstanding! Romeo? More of the same. A bit lazy at canter, dropping leads. Dork! To get even, I shoved him into high gear, galloping around the arena. air whizzing thru my ears, past my helmet, grinning like a kid. Fun!