The weather forecast today was 41 and sunny (they failed to mention the particularly stiff arctic breeze blowing all day). I was gifted with a visit from my friend Lida, who came with the intention of riding Phebes. This is not something I'd normally have happen. Phebes like to test the waters too much and does pitch herself a hissy fit now and then, and always...always tests the waters of leadership. Lida is planning on riding a few LD's this year, and initially I was going to put her on Journey, then the team thing happened, which means I need to suck as many safe slow miles as I can out of Journey. For the past few months Phebes has been getting at least one ride a week (albeit brief). Basically if she walked, trotted patterns without a rebellion, we quit. If she pulled out her union card, we hung with it until she re-thought the thing. I won't lie. I was worried she'd have one of "those" days and I'd witness my friend sliding through the mud and horse poop. To make the long story short, she pulled out most of her arsenal. She pinched in her nose, she flipped her head, she bucked, and bucked, and bucked some more. Lida hung with it. She didn't get scared (though I was sort of squinting my eyes a few times) and rode her through it, and out of it (which is what I'd have done), and by the end of the afternoon she was going pretty good on her, which made me quite happy. It is the end of January. We have to get this horse rolling by the first of March. If things go well, and I can hold up to it, I may ride Phebes for some day 2 stuff when Lida is unable to ride her, and get a few extra team miles and give Journey a bit of break here and there (from doing back to back days). Gotta say, Lida sits a bronc...not too bad. ☺
Well, Doc has prepared me well. He has launched me a few times in his younger days until I learned to SIT. Actually, what I learned was how to balance on a horse and not grip. You need to be agile to stick with the ups and downs and the duck and spins. Gripping actually makes you stiff and more likely to get launched. Lots of bareback riding really helps with the balance thing. I actually found the Parelli pushing passenger lesson very helpful for finding my seat and balance bareback. Once we switched to your saddle and determined that she was just testing me, it was time to get down to business. I always like to give the horse the benefit of the doubt and make sure it is not some discomfort causing the bad behavior. :-)
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