2+ hours, 7+ miles = 1 happy camper!

Last night I got home and headed straight to the barn. I got Lu up, cleaned up and then saddled up for a ride. As we headed out of the drive the other horses were nickering to us and running the fence line. Lu’s attention was on them so I decided to get it on me by kicking things up a notch.

Normally we walk a little ways before moving into a trot/canter but this time I started out trotting & asking for a nice, soft face. Anytime she’d sit on the bit I’d draw her to a stop and back her up quickly until she softened. She’s pretty smart so it didn’t take long for her to figure out that she needed to get off of my hands.

She was a little lookie Lu but not too bad. Anytime she’d loose focus we’d do serpentines, circles, etc. It was a lot of fun to “look” until we got to the top of the second hill. By then, nothing really bothered her. We saw wild turkeys on the road and lots of deer. We did LOTS of collected trotting and some cantering (not collected). By the end of the ride she was starting to look like a WP pony!

Before heading home we headed down the dirt path for some cantering. We really need to start focusing on this a bit more but then there are lots of things I need to be focusing on too. She got frustrated with me when she wanted to “charge” back towards the house and tossed her head in resentment. I quickly let her know that this wasn’t an option and she needed to do as asked. By the time she relaxed and settled she was covered head to hoof in sweat – but she was listening.

It was dark by the time we pulled back in the drive but it was worth every minute! Lu got her normal rinse to get the salt off of her coat. She LOVES playing in the water so I was just as soaked as she was by the time I got done. I sure hope we can get more rides in like this. We both need the long rides prior to November!