The Sap is Running!

A spring day in February? I couldn’t believe it, but I took advantage of it. My boy Ian and I attempted to groom our horses (mine has an infinite amount of hay chaff imbedded in his curls), and then we took turns jumping on bareback with just the halter and lead rope to work on our balance and overall horsemanship skills. I really took heart that I could mount AhD bareback better than my 12 and 364/365 year old son because he is very athletic. Definitely a learned ability! So all you other baby boomer ladies, take heart as well!! :) I offered Ian some tips, and we had fun with it. AhD was thinking, "Give me a break!" but I thought it was just as good a lesson for AhD as it was for Ian.
We headed for the barn to saddle ‘em up. I worked with AhD on Standing Still While Being Tacked Up. He was not a star pupil today.
Out on the trail, it was b-e-a-u-t-I-f-u-l! These pictures don’t do it justice, because it was sunny and bright with a good breeze blowing. My Curly was full of P and V, but I did not let it get to me, and I remembered MY lessons of *relax, *breathe, *grow roots, *stay in the moment. I was a better leader today! I’m a work in progress, but I think I did a good job of reminding AhD of HIS lessons *walk until I tell you to trot, *Pay attention to me - not Mister, *turkeys in the woods are not scary, they are fun and interesting, *walk until I tell you to trot, *fake spooks earn you tight circles, and *walk until I tell you to trot. We also practiced riding side by side, which is not as easy for us as it is for the Betsy/Keri Zoe/Teasel team, because AhD walks fast and Mister walks slowly and defers to AhD.
Here is a photo of another lesson for AhD, *being separated from Mister does not kill you. The mailbox in said picture was also a good training tool, because as we were riding side by side up the road, Ian bumped it with his leg, and it made quite the horse-scary sound. Both horses shied and scooted. So, of course we went back to the mailbox and banged it around until AhD was licking and chewing. Good thing we didn’t get caught by the mail lady!
Even though this was a training ride, it was also a pleasure ride. Boy, oh, Boy was it nice to get out and experience the unexpected joy of a spring day in February from the sweet back of my much-loved Curly!