My Human is Starting to Catch On
Yesterday my human and I went to the mountains for a riding lesson. It’s been a long while since we’ve been out anywhere, although she has been riding me a little around the yard from time to time.
I was glad to see that she remembered a lot from our previous work. First, she wasn’t rushed or stressed out, so I was able to stay relaxed. Next, she has finally learned that delicious treats are expected if I am to get into the trailer. Yesterday she had Apple Jacks cereal and carrots. She didn’t even have to ask - I just got in.
The ride up went fine. It was a bit warm out, but not too bad. My trailer is very airy and shady, which makes riding in it pleasant, even in hot weather. Riding in a trailer is like going for a long gallop, except that I don’t have to do any of the work. Ha!
Another thing she’s finally caught on about, after I told her over and over, is that I Do Not Like Bits. I don’t like them, and I go fine without one, so there. This time she didn’t even try to put my dressage bridle on me. We started with my halter, but the instructor brought out a sidepull, which is a kind of bridle that works like a halter - with no bit. It had to be adjusted a lot to fit my big head, but it was comfortable, and I could understand better what she was trying to ask me to do. It somehow almost came off my head at one point, but I didn’t get excited or anything. The humans both noticed, and fixed it, and off we went to the arena.
I had not been up to this arena before, although I’d walked past it on a trail ride once or twice. I wasn’t sure where we were going, so I thought maybe I should just stay back by the barn.
The way to the arena is uphill, and means walking away from all the other horses. I’m big and brave, and can go out by myself if I want to, but I wasn’t sure I wanted to. I was thinking hard about this when I noticed two goats in a corral like where the horses live. I’ve walked past them before, but this time they were standing on their hind legs at the fence, and staring at me. Well, that was too weird, so I just stopped.
My human sat there, telling me I was a knucklehead, and that the goats wouldn’t eat me, while our instructor left, and headed back to the barn. Well fine! Leave us with the goats, while you run away. How fair is that? And dang it all, I know they won’t eat me, it’s just that they are so… weird. They are kind of cute little things, like dog-donkeys, but they just stood there, staring at me with their weird goat eyes. It creeped me out.
After a couple of minutes our instructor came back, and she’d apparently gone to get a dressage whip, one of those “go means go” sticks I told you about earlier. So OK, I went - and my human stopped all that bump-bump-bumping me with her legs. So maybe going isn’t so bad.
We went up a hill, and past two kinda scary large metal buildings full of things to look at. There are other horses’ trailers in one of the buildings, and an enormous stack of hay bales in the other, so they aren’t too scary, but still… they are big and dark, and they make spooky noises.
When we got around the corner I could see we were going somewhere fun. I even trotted a little to get there. It was a bit cooler in the mountains than at home, with a lovely breeze, especially in this big arena, which is on a ridgeline. Even though the ocean is miles and miles away, you can see it from the arena. I was in a new place, with soft footing, and the breeze made me want to trot a little. It was exciting!
I’ll tell you about the arena part of our lesson later. Right now it’s time to eat breakfast and take a nap.
