Birthday Ride

Today I told my clients I had late morning “meetings” and headed to the barn for a birthday ride.  I actually hadn’t gone out alone for a very long time, and I was feeling excited about the prospect of a mellow indoor ride on Steen.

Everything was quiet in the pasture when I arrived.  Steen’s weight has so far held steady as temps have slowly dropped, so I am hopeful I won’t see the weight-plummeting phenomenon he’s undergone the last two winters.

Plus, yesterday Brian and I helped erect a not at all pretty but highly effective wind-barrier in the pasture, which should further help prevent him burning all his fat off trying to stay warm.

I took Steen indoors and at first he was a bit antsy because I had a sprinkler set out in the indoor arena to get the sand a bit damp before we started to ride.  He settled down once I turned it off and let him go sniff it though.  I groomed him and put his bridle on and climbed aboard.

I hadn’t ridden indoors in quite some time, and it was nice.  Steen never spooked or jumped or snorted.  We rode for half an hour, working mostly at the trot.  He was very well-behaved.  Afterwards he even let me take a photo of us holding the camera at arm’s length.  It turned our horribly, but it’s still kind of funny.

After I put Steen back outside, I brought Bear in.  I didn’t do much with him – just a little groundwork and then gave him some chopped hay.  He was really good with everything.  He is such a thinker, it’s really different to work with him than Steen.  Steen’s typical response to anything is to fidget or shift or move.  Bear always thinks things through before moving and sometimes it might look like he’s not responding.  However, as I asked him for various maneuvers, he would always get it right if I just gave him some time to mull over my request.

So, it was great to have an easy, positive day with our two boys.  Hopefully I can stay motivated as winter truly rolls in.