India Update

It's been a month since I brought India home and finally the cows that have been living in the arena were taken to the sale, so I got to use it today without having to dodge them or feed and watering troughs as they'd all been removed. On a scale of 1 to 10, I give today's ride a very satisfying 8 as overall it went very well with one or two moments of India-angst that were quickly overcome. Yay!

She stood very nicely for grooming and tacking up. When I got to the arena, there was already one other rider and horse working, but plenty of room for us. India's trot was full of scoot, so I concentrated on keeping her on the rail and slowing it down to a nice, working trot. After a full lap, we got the rhythm I wanted, so we started to work on serpentines and large circles and changes of direction. We trotted for a good 25 minutes or so, with lots of transitions and I was pleased. Then the other rider left the arena with her mare and India realized that she was OMG!ALONE!! and she had a bit of panic. And you know what? It wasn't anything bad. She balked. I kicked lightly, then slightly harder, and then slightly harder than that and India started off at a nice walk and was over it and I was delighted. So, after another ten minutes of trot, trot, trot, I asked for a left lead canter and she picked it up and we circled the arena a wee bit faster than I would have liked, but I wouldn't have described it as a hand gallop and after one circuit she rated down to a nice speed and we cantered a bit further and then came down to a trot and then a halt and a change of direction and some walk-trot transitions and then the right lead canter was right there and very solid and I was very happy.

So, we left the arena and rode around the barn area and she walked and trotted by herself and then a bit with the other horse and rider but calmly left them when asked and then halted and stood quietly while they toodled off around the barn. That went so well, we side passed and opened and closed the gate and went out and walked nicely down the drive to the pond and the pavilion and then crossed the spillway without a problem, but she then decided that walking across the grassy dam was not fun, so a balk and then tap, Tap, TAP with my heels and on the fifth, she walked forward. We didn't make it all the way across as I decided to turn her around before she balked again as I could tell that she was uncomfortable with this plan, but it was my decision to turn around. While we were doing this, the other rider came down and we fell in behind her across the dam, then along the bank on the narrow trail to the long and wide wooden bridge, but once we all got across, I let them get quite a ways ahead and India stood quietly watching them walk away and she was very stoic and just stood. No jiggling, pawing or crying out for her departing friend, and when they were several hundred feet away across the grassy lawn, I let India move forward and she calmly walked along and gave me no real guff about turning and heading back the way we'd come and then quietly turning and heading again across the grass. We made the circuit and got back to the pavilion and I decided that we'd had a great ride, so we walked back up the drive to the barn, stopping to take a good long look at the noisy John Deere tractor that Richard had driven out of the shed, a tractor she's seen many times before, but never right there, and after a snort and a settle, back we went to the barn. She stood nicely for untacking and grooming and then got turned out with a very good rub and a thanks from me for a nice ride. The ride-and-tie in September in August may be doable. Stay tuned.

I am so pleased with the Pessoa, a saddle so comfortable and fits so well that I don't feel like we need the breastplate I bought for the Wintec. I am a bit flustered by how short the leathers are, but that's a minor quibble.

All in all a very nice day with my mare!