Thursday, March 4th - Well, the concept of getting ‘two-fer’ work sessions isn’t looking quite as bright as it did this morning. I had decided to use ‘Sundance’ a 3 yr old welsh cross pony for her partner for the first outing. He is the Only equine on the property who is smaller than Belle is, he has been ponied before and he is calm and not prone to nip or bite. Seemed like a perfect choice to teach her how to do the job. I just forgot to consult Belle. Apparently she isn’t very Fond of Sundance. She resented his very presence near her – and clearly told him so, which made him initially unwilling to walk anywhere near her. I had mounted up in the barn aisle and had someone hand me Sundance’s lead. We then spent 5 minutes doing some sort of three-way waltz going several directions at once, and getting nowhere. Sundance was afraid of Belle, Belle was torqued, and I was realizing that Belle doesn’t know anything about neck reining! Happily, Sundance is an easy going pony and I kept insisting that he Walk UP and finally he came along side and in that moment, I got Belle walking a straight line – out the opposite end of the barn I had planned on, but hey, I was going to take it! We went around the paddocks and headed for the side gate.

I had a little girl riding one of the bulletproof school horses joining my unwilling pair; so at least One horse knew what they were doing. Actually Sundance knew his job, but he wasn’t so sure about doing it with a pissy pony mare! At the gate, Belle JUMPED the cinderblocks that line the base of the gate. Sundance Froze, in splay-legged astonishment. Happily I had a Very Long lead rope and I just let it run through my hands. Even better, Belle Whoa-ed immediately upon landing. And To complete my joy, Sundance responded to Walk Up by promptly stepping over the blocks and rejoining us at my knee. Which irritated Belle, so she pranced sideways, and we crabbed our way down the trail for a stretch. Sundance just wanted to walk quietly – which is why he is going to make an excellent driving pony – but it also caused him to lag behind. And as soon as his nose dropped behind Belle’s hip, she would swing over and threaten to kick the poor little palomino pinto. I was juggling reins and leads and putting leg on to keep her butt out of his face, and insisting that he come up to the safe place. I might as well have thrown two alley cats in a burlap sack.

Finally after about 5 minutes of this crazy dance, we had ourselves straightened out, Until we got to the little hill. We marched Up fine, but then at the top, Belle and Sundance had a parting of the ways – well almost. Sundance looked at the downhill and through turning for home was a better idea. Belle resented him holding her back, tried turning in circles – I was pirouetting under the lead rope like a Spaniard doing Doma pole work! Meanwhile, Sadie, the ever-reliable school mare, marched right past us, casting an evil eye at my two charges. You could almost hear her muttering about stupid ponies, and the wasted energy of youth! She’s 31 years old, a Quarter Horse, and if she hasn’t been there or done that, it probably isn’t worth doing! Given that solid example of proper behavior, Belle and the boy decided to line up and get going somewhere again.

I have to admit, 20 minutes of that was more than enough. Besides 6 yr old girls and 31 yr old mares don’t need long rides out on the trail. So, I looped back to home, handed Sundance off to a friend, and then I took Belle out for a more efficient conditioning run. And it was a bit of a run. Since she was So wound up, I let her stretch out into a trot, which quickly became a strong canter. I let her roll along. Better to let her burn off all that pent up frustration. We were happily banking left and right around sagebrush and tumbleweeds when I spied a gopher hole in the trail. I quickly took up left rein to steer around, and instead of a turn, I got a nicely bent neck! Given our pace, we were on top of that hole in a blink, and sure enough, she stepped in it.

For about 4 milliseconds I thought we were toast. She dropped in front, I braced as hard as I could to help hold her front end up. Since I had seen it coming, I was able to get down in the saddle and that made all the difference. I held her up, she got her legs organized and WHEW we didn’t flip. Amazingly, she didn’t even turn an ankle. We walked away a tad more humble. She was still full of energy, but a bit quieter, and I was not willing to risk any more speed work in an area where ground squirrels live. I figured I had used up my guardian angel credits for the day. But we went out quite a bit further, and then on the hard roads, I allowed her a bit more trot work.

I forgot the Garmin, so I didn’t get to log exactly how many miles we covered. My best estimate was 4 and we did it in 50 minutes (including the brief stop back at the ranch to hand off Sundance). Belle was not breathing hard when we came home, but she did get a little sweaty. I am pleased that we have worked 4 times this week, and we might sneak in one more ride tomorrow if the rain doesn’t come in until late. Next week, I will start carrying the GPS to accurately track miles, and I want to start logging time and distance for each week.

Which is part of why I am doing a blog. It makes me keep track! Tomorrow marks 10 weeks until the race! mw