FINALLY: a great ride

And to think, I almost didn't ride today!!

The day started out with a trip to Rehoboth to visit Lauren and Charlie. Last week, Charlie was very naughty, so I scheduled an intervention, recruiting Maddy to go there with me this weekend and help Lauren work through some of his issues with the same groundwork techniques that have helped Lucy and I so much.

We had a great time and Charlie improved dramatically in just an hour or so of work. He thought about rearing a few times but Maddy persuaded him that it was really just easier to do what she was asking, and he complied! He looked very happy and chill when we were done:

learning about personal space

learning how to stand patiently while we all chatted

looking happy and educated at the end!

We got back to the barn where we met Claire, my friend whom I boarded with for about a year before she went back to school and moved her horse, Boe, to be closer to her. It was so good to see her!

I tacked up and headed to the outdoor, only to realise that someone was out on a trail ride with their horse and I am all about battling some things out, but I decided today was not the day to battle out how to handle a horse out on the trails when we're trying to work in the ring.

So we went to the indoor, where I lunged her briefly and then hopped on, and had a great ride with minimal nonsense!

Exhibit A:



Exhibit B:

right about here, I was thinking, holy crap I'm having FUN!

Do you see that smile?!

It felt great to fall in love with her again.