Weekend Ride

Yesterday's ride was so scorching hot, we are having those Santa Ana winds that make things so hot and dry. However, this made for a lazier horse so I wasn't complaining. This was our second ride ever and he did surprisingly well. We rode in a new arena for one thing, he'd never seen it and took the first lap snorting at various things. He's getting better at steering and learning that I don't want to fight with him, I just want him to follow my hand (follow the pulling) and then I'll stop. We went on a walk down the road of the property, which he does not like.

Calvin likes being with other horses so when we leave them, he wants to turn back and it's usually a fight. This was a huge lesson because he spins & rears, which of course can be scary for me, especially in a halter and bareback pad.  Today, I figured out that if I crank his head toward my leg then he can't rear and stops moving. Once he stops moving, I release and ask for him to walk again. Sometimes he'd walk forward and listen, other times he'd try again to spin and go toward home. At the end of the day, he learned that he can't win and it's easier to just listen to me. The key with horses is that you have to be consistent. If I say stop, you stop and don't move. No taking two steps, not one step, you stop and stand still. It takes more patience and sometimes is frustrating, but it pays off in the long run.

My parents were able to come out and watch so that made for more pictures & video!

Here's a pan of the property, my dad, and Calvin & I riding in the arena. 

Brushing before we began our journey.

So much red fur! 

You can actually see the clump of red fur I pulled out of my curry-comb. He's shedding his winter coat and there is red fur everywhere, including all over me. He was very content as he was eating his dinner this whole time. 

 Here's our getup! I said he looks like a total backyard horse because of my random equipment that I jury-rigged together. Still handsome none-the-less. I have to fix his halter as it's currently up too high and close to his eye. That's his pasture to the left where the fence is, he lives with two other mares, lucky boy!

Practicing our turning & forward motion, he was much better today than yesterday. Here he is walking like a drunken sailor, which is typical of babies or green horses. I wasn't so concerned with walking straight, as that comes with time, but more so that he'd listen to my turning and squeezing. I trotted a few steps (not in the video) and it's just so bouncy that I'll have to wait until my saddle comes before I start training faster gaits. This is fine, one can accomplish a lot of training just at the walk. He's a very laid-back horse and prefers to go slow (read: lazy), I actually prefer a lazier horse because they can go from 60 to 0, whereas a hot horse has to go from 60 to 50 to 45 to 30 and finally they calm down to 0. Good boy Calvin!