I only had enough daylight to ride Cruise on trail. We went with my boyfriend and Starry. It was a very nice ride.

When I got back, I decided to try the outdoor arena with Cole. I haven’t ridden in there in over a year. It is huge and Cole gets very strange in it. I started by leading him until he settled down. When we got to the far end, he got wild and was bucking and rearing. He did this a number of times. I just sighed. This is what happened with him last year on the far end. I use the arena for turnout, and I think he wanted me to set him free so he could run.

I led him for 15 minutes, and when we were able to make it a lap without incident, I decided it was time to ride. We stayed at a walk and stayed near the gate. He did spook once, but I was able to stop him on the first step. Five minutes was long enough for me. It was getting dark, anyway.

I brought him into the indoor arena so we could do some trotting. Trot he did. He did the fast trot, the big trot, the high stepping trot, and every now and then, a quiet trot. He was totally unpredictable. He spooked when a horse was banging in his stall a number of times. He spooked when a man sneezed. I kept on riding. Eventually, we were able to trot a few decent laps. I then had him walk to relax. He did some marvelous turn on the haunches in both directions and side passes. Maybe I should have started with lateral work earlier to settle him down and focus him on a task?

The ride was challenging to say the least. I do remember when Cruiser was his age, the first few arena rides, after a summer of trail riding, were very exciting. I have ridden him a few times in the indoor this year, but none of them on such a cool night. We’ll see how he does tomorrow…