Catch me if you can!

Last night Lucy and I went to drill practice with MIL. One of the little girls had asked me to pull her horse’s mane in preparation for the Cowgirl Queen Contest next week at State Fair so I didn’t really anticipate riding much. While she was getting her horse warm for me Lu and I headed to the arena. I’m amazed at how much she changes w/the little amount of consistent work she gets. I’m constantly getting compliments on how good she looks and how relaxed and happy she looks. That of course makes me happy.

While the drill team performed I pulled Maggie’s mane while Lucy ate grass. After they were done with their run Lu and I headed back into the arena to play around some more. The team was standing in a group listening to their instructions for their rodeo this weekend so Lu trotted circles around them. She’s not rating my seat as much as I’d like her to so I’m trying to go back to the basics a bit.

Anna (the queen contestant) got on Sis to try her out. She still isn’t sure if she wants to use Sis or her horse. Lu and I had been loping around the arena (plunking more like it) when I told Anna to do the “Cowgirl salute”. She kicked Sis up a notch and I asked Lu to follow. OMG that filly finally found the gas pedal! She can book it when she wants to. I saw visions of my butt in the arena thinking if she moved just one quick step to the side I was a gonner! Luckily for me it didn’t happen. I don’t think Lu has ever gone that fast w/a rider before and I kind of think she enjoyed it.

After that I wanted to jump on Sis a bit. She was stiff and wasn’t driving the way I knew she could. We did some rollbacks and some bending exercises and then she decided slow and low was a better idea. While I was riding Sis another member of the team decided to get on Lu. I’m pretty picky about who gets on my horses but it was nice to see how Lu reacted w/a different rider. She had her head tucked nicely on a very loose rein. By the end of the night the mosquitoes got so bad we decided to get out of Dodge!