Sunday's Ride!

I did get to ride yesterday (Sunday)! It was a bit unexpected since we had rain most of the day. But it stopped mid afternoon so I went out to groom Navajo and figured I would ride. So we walked around the front yard a bit and then we headed up back to the orchard where our big hill is:) We did a lot of walking and trotting. It was more of a fun ride but I wanted to get him to the point that he kept going until I told him to stop especially when turning. We have a grain bin in that yard so I used that as something to trot around. At first he didn't get what I wanted but after a few urges and a bit of talking to he finally figured it out. He did quite well. But mostly we did trotting. We did walk up the big hill. I figured it would be good for him to walk up the hill and not always trot and canter up it. He wasn't to impressed about that but that was ok. Then we did some trotting along the top of the hill. This hill is pretty steep and the winters we have snow that is awesome for sledding this is one of the hills we go sledding on:) Then we just did some walking around. We headed over to the other side of the driveway and headed back behind the steer shed. We just walked and had an enjoyable time on the way back there. Then I asked him if he wanted to canter. He was like ALL YEAH :D I asked for a canter and off we went. We cantered the whole way up to the driveway again. We crossed the driveway and cooled down a bit. I got off and decided to see how well he would follow me and how good he would respond to me when I say WHOA! He followed me good and I said WHOA..he kept following me so I said whoa and I stopped. He stopped to. So then I told him to stay and I kept walking. A short distance away I stopped as well and then told him to come. He didn't come and I was like Hello Ruth Ann you have a tool in your pocket you forgot about. See he comes when I whistle (most of the time..still workin on that). So I whistled..well first I got some grass off of the ground (green grass) and I stretched out my hand then whistled. He saw the outstretched hand, heard the whistle and headed right on over. Smart guy. We did this two times. He did great both times. Then we headed back to the barn. I got my shedding blade out and took it over him. Wow was he loosing hair. After I was doen grooming it looked like it had snowed Navajo hair all over the place. Even on me! He seemed to enjoy it very much. The amazing thing was after he was put in his barn again and I was inside it started to rain so I got to spend some decent time with him without rain!! It was great!!

Ok I said I want to find THREE GOOD things when I ride. Well I would say the first good thing was that he did really well with responding to whatever I asked him to do weather it was a walk, trot or canter. Sometimes he can have a problem with that:)
The SECOND good thing would be he did good with going around the feed bin at a trot. We never really did that before and he picked up on that about the second or third time around.
The THIRD good thing would be he came when I whistled and stayed when I told him to. He is for the most part a very obediant horse:) He can be stubborn though!

I don't know if I will remember to do this every time but I think it is a good thing. It makes even the worst rides seem like it was profitable and it makes you feel good that you acomplished something!