Scaredy Cat!

Today the plan was to ride Nine with my mom as well as my mother in law along. Well, the winds and rain (if you can call that sprinkling "rain") have been coming in earlier in the day so it was already breezy when we got out there. Then the Grandmas started very subtly trying to best each other in every aspect imaginable... The tension got to Nine and I. Nine hasn't been ridden in at least a week, and he was, well, spirited today, which didn't help at all. I was getting extremely nervous and I just had a terrible feeling about riding him. Last time I actually got on a horse acting like that when I felt like that, I got bucked off Hammar. So I worked with Nine until he would stand for my weight in the stirrup then called it done.




Me (safe on Hammar) and my mom rode to the wash, maybe 2 1/2 miles away, and we got some pictures:



Then back home we posed for more photos:

Rode Again

I'm sorry, no pictures today... Fiance was sleeping because he has to work tonight, so we didn't have a photographer. But my dad took Elayne while me and the MiL worked with Nine. This time I got on without anyone holding Nine, and I rode him around the round pen for a while and got him used to the crop - he's really quite lazy! Then we opened the gate and followed Ashley off the property! Nine tried to eat once we got near the grass, and he was really quite diligent about it too, so I had to hand the lead rope to MiL so we could pull Nine off the grass. He wasn't pulling hard on the bit, but he wouldn't raise his head or move his feet either. My dad rode by three times on his Harley (yes, he had my 2 year old daughter on the motorcycle - they stay very slow and never go near pavement, and Elayne loves it) and Nine just looked at the bike as if he was wondering how his baby got up there... We went back onto the property and I took full control of Nine again. We stepped over the few obstacles I have around the place, mostly jumps that have fallen down and two halves of a barrel that was cut "hotdog style" with the sides laid end to end. Nine took it all in stride and even trotted a little bit for me. I was able to turn him away from his mare, and he spotted the chickens too. He was not at all concerned about the chickens; he was more interested in the hay they were pecking at!

Then we met back up with Ashley and MiL to try to trot again before I put Nine away. Well, MiL was using the end of her lead rope as a whip for Lazy Ash, and the end of it got pretty close to Nine's nose and brought him up short. Then I applied the crop, and he gave one jump, stopped, bucked and took off at actually a very nice high-headed canter, but strait for the garden fence! I was pulling on the right rein like I usually do when Hammar pulls crazy moves on me. But Nine responds better so far to the left rein. But Nine finally saw the garden and turned right - towards the corrals. Then I released the rein pressure as he slowed to a walk. I have a small scrape on my arm and I had a bunch of juniper tree in my mouth, but I was otherwise unharmed and I still had my seat. Then I tried to walk Nine until my heat slowed, but he kept scraping me in the trees and "spooking" when the branches touch his flanks! It was like was trying to find an excuse to "play" some more! So we went back into the round pen and walked around twice each direction, stopped, backed up two steps (his record so far) and walked forward half the radius of the pen, then stopped again. He was perfect as I dismounted and lead him to the inner tube to tie and unsaddle him. As I walked away with the saddle Nine gave me an almost pleading look as if to say, "please don't go! I'll be good, I promise!" But there is a storm brewing and I was starving to death so away I went.

Soon the baby sitter will be able to watch Elayne again (she's been away with her family) and I can get more rides on Nine. Wish me luck!

Pictures this time, yay!

I rode Nine again, this time outside the round pen but still with my mother in law holding the lead rope (more for my comfort than for control of Nine). This has been helping my confidence so much! Nine has really been enjoying it too, I think. He has been much more friendly. He was never "cold" towards me or anyone, but he's turning into a puppy dog these days, licking our hands and following us around. Here are some pictures from yesterday after we got back on the property.

I did it, I did it!

Yes, ladies and gentlemen, I rode Nine. We had an hour or two while Elayne napped and after Paul got home, so I and my mother in law went out to work with Nine. He remembered everything like we did it yesterday, not nearly two weeks ago. I quickly was on him, then we ponied him from Ashley around the round pen for a while. Then MiL got off and tied the lead rope to Nine's saddle and we rode around unconnected, so to speak. All in all, I was on Nine about half an hour! We didn't trot, but Nine soon relaxed and settled into a nice swinging walk. Tomorrow morning we will hopefully be able to take him on a short ride outside the pen before we're off to town to buy groceries.

The New Excitement in the Neighborhood

Well, my foot is feeling much better! Apparently nothing is broken. Whenever I can get some babysitting help (my normal child care provider is out of town) I feel I can get back up on that high horse, literally. However, there is something a little more urgent happening around here!

My mother in law is getting a very early Christmas gift from her neighbor; a 9 year old registered Quarter Horse mare. She will be here in 2 weeks, so we need to get the MiL's fence fixed before then! There hasn't been a horse on that property in ages, so the fence is in a sorry state, but I think we'll manage. It will be a lot of work, and we need to find a saddle and bridle for my mother in law, since all her tack was destroyed in a house fire a few years ago. But soon I will have access to another horse to train my horses to ride around a strange horse! Yay! Also, MiL can ride her mare, leaving at least two more ridable horses at my house (three once Nine is started well) so everyone can ride together! I just had a little image in my head of MiL riding her mare (she thinks she'll call her Sally), I riding Nine, my fiance riding Ashley and ponying Hammar who will carrying our daughter. Cute!

Ouch!

So on Wednesday I did manage to get myself on the horse. It fried my nerves, but I sat all the way in the saddle, and Nine never even flinched. I was going to try to ride him on Thursday as my mother in law ponied Nine from Ashley, but as I was saddling Nine he spooked, stepped on my foot, then jumped off my foot, leaving a hoof shaped mark in my favorite boots and a swollen bruise on my foot. Today (Friday) I can walk, but I am very sore from being so beat up and my foot is quite tender. So I didn't get on Nine again :( My baby sitter is out of town for a while, so I don't know when I'll be able to work with the horses again for the next two weeks. We'll see. Well, I will. I doesn't seem like anyone is reading my posts anymore :P That's what I get for not posting for weeks at a time!

Good News!

So I had my mother-in-law come over to help me work with Nine, and owing to the emotional/courage support and a person on another horse to hold Nine, I managed to get all my weight in the saddle again! And, this time it was without a mounting block. Nine wasn't snubbed to saddle on Ashley, but the other horse standing there did help hold him still! Got to do dishes now, but I'll work with Nine again tomorrow, hopefully this time actually straddle the horse, and post some more.