cnvh
Jul. 10, 2009, 08:51 AM
You know how you occasionally have those extra-special-super days at the barn that make you go home with a smile on your face and remind you why you spend all the time and money and sweat and tears? I had one last night... :)
It wasn't a spectacular lesson or a training breakthrough or anything... The weather was perfect, so a bunch of us went out for a trail ride. Some of our group like to run all over the mountains, but lately I've been going out with another rider whose horse is coming back from a stifle injury, so she likes to take it easy; we let the crazy bunch go on their way and she and I went out for a SLOOOWWW ambling trip up the mountain and back.
My horse is usually fairly good on trails, especially considering he's a 6-year old OTTB who's only been in retraining for less than a year, but last night we did our WHOLE trail ride on the buckle, totally loose rein for the entire time; he was just completely relaxed and having a great time wandering through the woods, and so was I.
After we got back, I spent a good 5-10 minutes with him in his stall, scratching all those hard-to-reach itchy places on his head that I never let him rub on me for a scratching post, inside the ears, all over his cheeks, etc., etc. I think he was in horsey heaven. :yes:
It wasn't a milestone event or anything, just one of those, "yeah, this is why I do this" kind of nights, and I'm still smiling about it today. :) Is that weird or normal?
It wasn't a spectacular lesson or a training breakthrough or anything... The weather was perfect, so a bunch of us went out for a trail ride. Some of our group like to run all over the mountains, but lately I've been going out with another rider whose horse is coming back from a stifle injury, so she likes to take it easy; we let the crazy bunch go on their way and she and I went out for a SLOOOWWW ambling trip up the mountain and back.
My horse is usually fairly good on trails, especially considering he's a 6-year old OTTB who's only been in retraining for less than a year, but last night we did our WHOLE trail ride on the buckle, totally loose rein for the entire time; he was just completely relaxed and having a great time wandering through the woods, and so was I.
After we got back, I spent a good 5-10 minutes with him in his stall, scratching all those hard-to-reach itchy places on his head that I never let him rub on me for a scratching post, inside the ears, all over his cheeks, etc., etc. I think he was in horsey heaven. :yes:
It wasn't a milestone event or anything, just one of those, "yeah, this is why I do this" kind of nights, and I'm still smiling about it today. :) Is that weird or normal?