Tuesday, June 4, 2013

The Listening Horse



We ventured out into the orchard pasture tonight - it was a beautiful evening, with just enough breeze to discourage most of the bugs.  Sunny and Amyra again.   Tonight at the trailer Amyra actually moved around - which, with most horses I wouldn't be thrilled about, but with her it's a sign that she's actually relaxing.  I can work on relaxed and standing still later.  For now I'll take not stiff.



Out in the bigger space I wasn't sure what to expect.  But right from the first her neck wasn't as knotted.  We walked big circles, played follow the leader with Sunny, and eventually I asked her to trot.


Her head popped back up and it took five minutes or so of going around in figure eights and circles before she started to relax again.  And probably that long before we managed a nice round circle.

She's so responsive that she picks up on every bump and shift I make, and she wants to do whatever you're asking her right now!  Which would be lovely, if I was actually telling her to do all of the things she thinks I am....


It's unfortunate that I'm used to Sunny who takes a LOT of leg, and doesn't concern himself overly with my sliding around.  Perhaps she'll cure me of that.  In any case, we spent a fair amount of time trotting.  If we managed a circle that felt relatively smooth, I'd asked her very softly to walk, and let her have a nice loose rein.
 

She was still very aware of where the other two horses were.  And if I'd let her she would have eased her way over to the fenceline closest to them and stayed there.  But she wasn't insistent about it. 


Back at the trailer she did her bracing thing again briefly.  But all in all a really good ride.  Not sure how much actual riding my mom did - she sure spent a lot of time taking pictures!

2 comments:

Kellie said...

Well look at you go! What a great ride :)

I laughed out loud thinking about how we bump/shift around on less responsive horses and sure get a jolt when we are on one that is paying attention lol

What a beautiful evening too - side note, can't believe how fast your hair grows.

SunnySD said...

Yeah, it's scary how fast I slip back into all kinds of bad habits - lol!

My hair... yeah, it does. It's also curly, so depending on how much humidity there is, it can look dramatically different lengths. Today was pretty humid - and I looked like a poodle. Can't wait until it's long enough to braid again!