It's a bird! It's a plane! It's Superman!! I never watched those movies(unless Krypto the super dog counts), too long, too boring and unlike Captain America, Superman is boring. But why discuss super heroes(Iron Man, Captain America and Black Widow being the best, Oh, Wonder Woman), here we discuss our love affair with horses. 

Apparently not only does 'every horse have it's day' but 'every horse has its I-hate-my-rider week'  too. March is March Madness, prologue to show season, beginning of spring and apparently 'torture your rider' month too. I s'pose it only feels this way since I'm now finally seeing the ugly side to horses, it's not all fun and games, which I knew from books but not experience. Cody is teaching me this.. he's been teaching me a lot. Between him, Lindsay, Julie, Ariel and Jordan I've been learning and experiencing a lot more than I figured I would from basic lessons. 

So Saturday, if any of you decided to read my previous, most recent post, you'll know Cody and Jac gave me a bucket full of problems. Jac with his jittery, jumpy panicky self,and Cody, running wild and free to go get hay. I've pretty much been scarred by geldings,you know, the -'supposedly sweet and easy keepers' The 'why get a stallion' horses? Yeeeaah riight. The next person/article that says 'horses are easy'  gets slapped(although I already knew horses weren't easy, but I can hope can't I?). The week before Rose(re-read, the Azteca mare I'm so infatuated with. The one whom Julie as offered to allow me to ride(with her there) but I said no due to my irrational fear of large horses I fear I'll never conquer), anyway, Rose, tore the cross ties down, giving me a mini heart attack, Jac almost kicked me and Cody also tried to kick me and did in fact rip the cross ties down, again. Not only did he rip the cross ties,he also wouldn't canter and when he did it was too awkward(that might've had to do with his popped out rib I wasn't aware of when I rode him.... for two hours.. twice that week..). I've been using the bridle with a bit, I like it better than the bosal. When I requested a canter, he refused to do it, I slapped with the reins, but that didn't have the affect I wanted. So, to avoid that issue, I used the bosal, which has a very encouraging switch attached. I rarely use it, as long as he knows I have it in my hand, he does what I ask on the first try. 

Today was cold(er), at 32 degrees as compared to the lush 50's and 60's we've been having. I rode indoors for a while. The stable manager, Jordan, was preparing for an upcoming Jumping competition, she looked pretty good, and the stable owner was back in the saddle after 35 years out of it. She looked good and comical. I couldn't lunge without going outside, so I just got on. Considering Jordan was jumping and Mary was riding, Cody and I both did rather amazing. When I asked for a trot, he went faster than what I prefer, so Jordan assisted me on slowing him down without using the reins to pulled, a bad habit of mine. He did fine up until both horses left. Then he started to act unpredictable and irritable. I got off and shut the big doors,then I turned him loose. Jumps were up and I didn't want to lunge around the them. Cody desperately wanted to get to the big doors,that open to the pasture. I wouldn't let him. He ran, squealed,bucked,snorted and at some point he charged where I stood,turning and bucking at the last minute. A girl wanted to come in and ride, but Cody was still loose. I figured I'd just stop and put the bosal back on and ride, since another horse usually calms him down. Cody, so ticked with me, refused to allow me anywhere near him. I finally caught him and by then she'd gone to ride with Jordan and I was on the verge of exploding. I lunged Cody in the outdoor arena since he wasn't focused and growing more hostile and unpredictable. He wanted to go to the pasture with the other horses, but I decided against that, feeding his hostility. After much contemplation, I got on. We did trotting for a while, as I wanted to work on keeping his atttention at a slower speed before cantering. When we did canter, the other girl(we'll call her Betty) and her pony(Candy) arrived to ride outside too. I untied the switch, had Cody drop his head, and asked for a canter. He did it second time around and we did well. Until he saw Jump standards we didn't recognize and began to sidepass.... at a canter. Again we cantered and again we did well, but Candy went to the left, away from us, so naturally he just had to follow. Third time the wind picked up quickly,and a horse directly across from us started snorting,running and bucking, completely throwing us off. Cody leaped forward and took off across the arena, he apparently thought I needed a refresher. I stopped him and went back inside, where we did some calm trotting and ended on a good note. In the end, we accomplished working through hiccups that I normally would've avoided at all costs,and I left somewhat content. Cody got his apple and Rose got her treat and annual scratch behind the ears. 

I don't know why Cody has been hostile like this. It's a test I don't like. Buut..... today was good in more ways than one. I rode, without lunging, while two other riders were riding. We cantered, all though bumpy,outside.in the wind. We did good. We'll see how Wednesday goes... Until then.. 

~Have a Happy Ride~