Sassy Pants

The beautiful sunset from last post led to a fun little storm system that brought us a good day of rain, and even snow in the tippy tops of the mountains! But before the rains came, it was incredibly dry, and every time I touched or tried to brush Truby, her coat crackled with static electricity. I sprayed her quite generously with some Vetrolin Shine Spray just so I could pet her without shocking her.

So of course, a few days later I decided to hop on bareback for a little ride. She was still very, very slick from the spray....she's been very good recently...mostly...so I figured it would be okay. The second I got on, she spun around and dove her face into a few scraps of alfalfa hay that was left over from someone's turnout time snack. I let her eat for a second while I settled myself, made sure I had some sort of grip, and then hauled her head up and sent her to work.

 Can I spook at this?

She pranced off and started trying to get back to the hay, or "run" off, or twist around, and all of that involved a very high head and very prancey feet and an overly light feel to her front end. I very much dislike the feel of a high strung horse being way above the bit and extra light on their feet. I hate that feeling of being completely unable to control or influence the horse, and the feeling that anything will cause them to leap, twirl, or run off. 

Luckily Truby is pretty unathletic, and I remembered how to actually ride. So while I had to be quite a bit braver than I prefer to be, I sat squarely on her back, my legs firm on her sides. Never pinching or clinging. I forced my body to belie my nervousness, and rode. Even just at a walk, I used my leg to push her into my rein. I used my core and seat to hold her into a nice pace. I kept my voice relaxed and low, and my buttcheeks unclenched. 

It took a good 15 minutes, but I got her mostly focused on me. She moved forward in a solid, starting-to-swing walk, no jig, no giraffing. She did occasionally think that spooking at something would be fun, but never followed through. There was a moment when we were going past the far end near the neighbors chickens, and a couple of them started to squabble. Truby only took a large step away, but I was much more startled and found myself clenching with my thighs, leaning quite forward, and grabbing at my reins to shorten them. I had to give myself a good lecture about that, because that's an excellent way to teach a horse that they really should be afraid of something! 

But in general, everything went really well, and I was proud of myself. Proud of myself for being brave, for riding through it, and doing those things well. Proud of Truby, too. She's allowed to be sassy sometimes, but she worked through it as well, and was a happy pony by the end. 

I finished our ride just a few minutes later. It had started to drizzle heavily, and while it was exciting (it's a desert thing), Truby hates getting rain in her ears, and I thought she deserved to stop on a good note. 

She was still pretty up and sassy, so I turned her losoe and let her run a bit. She enjoyed getting to be a little wild, tossing in a few bucks and some playful striking with her front legs. I even got a little bit of video!

I filmed this in Slo Mo on my phone, but can't upload that version. Which is a shame, because it's so much better! After a few minutes of sassing around, Truby walked over to me and nuzzled against my arm. Having gotten the crazies out, she was relaxed and happy again. She got some cookies, wrapped in her rain sheet for the chill rain that would come overnight, and tucked into bed with lots of hay.