OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG
*breath*
OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG.
So. I walk into the barn today, start bleaching water buckets and Cathy goes out to talk to my mom. Of course I'm thinking "AAAH WHAT DID I DO WRONG?!" but then she comes back in and says "What do you think of Katie?" I said I didn't really know her, and she seemed kinda grumpy in a cute way. Cathy told me that my mom said I could start half-boarding her asap, as long as we got along.
Let me tell you about my previous experience with Katie: NONE. I know that she's a thoroughbred and 11 years old. I've lead her in a few times, watered and fed her while she was in her stall....but that's it. I *never* saw this coming. Apparantly, the opportunity came up because her owners are two seven year old little girls, and they hardly get to ride anymore because their mom is a stewardess. Katie is the type of horse who needs a Mom.
Her ground manners are fantastic, except she drops her foot after you pick it instead of taking it back from you. Minor annoyance.
My first ever ride on her went pretty well. She's cold-backed, and Cathy told me she bucks when she's uncomfortable. I was also told that she's very particular about who rides her. I wasn't expecting a great ride from all of this, and I didn't get a great ride, but I got a very good one. I only did walk/trot because we were outside and she was really rushing towards the barn in a spot where she dumped her owner before. I had to cut my ride short, too, because she got a rub from the girth. I'm going to use a different one from now on. She falls on her forehand very quickly and tripped because of that, so I really have to work with her on that, especially with her being cold backed. I really need to keep constant outside aids on her, which will take some transitioning on my part because Cindy knew how to neck rein and it made using outside aids that much easier for me. Her trot is so awesome, she covers so much ground that it feels like I'm flying. It's tough though when she wants to break into a canter, but I think that was just because she was outside today and excited. A couple of things I REALLY liked were her transitions. Cindy has a funny trot-walk transition, it takes about ten jigging strides to get her to walk. With Katie, all you have to do is drop your weight just a little and she'll drop right into the walk. She's be trained up to second level, and she listens very, very well to seat aids.
My half-board officially starts on May 1st. For the rest of this week, I'm going to try and get out to the barn to groom her and massage out her back and just get to know her more.
I still don't know how to break the news to Cindy, though. I'm glad I'm not as upset as I thought I would be about moving on. If I were to move on to Fancy or Odie, I'd be mega bummed. Neither of them need another rider, and neither of them could ever see me as their person. I tihnk the fact that Katie really does need a person, and that person could very well be me, is gonna help me move on from Cindy. I may keep riding Cindy occasionally, for fun. And I'm still going to spoil her ROTTEN!
Another great part about today? I was standing by the fence while everyone was grazing their horses, and Buster came right over to the fence like "HI! I'm here!" and later when I went out in their field to get Teddy, Buster Brown trotted right up to me like "Oooh, I know you! Look, look! It's MEEE!" I luvumz that horse too much.
OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG.
So. I walk into the barn today, start bleaching water buckets and Cathy goes out to talk to my mom. Of course I'm thinking "AAAH WHAT DID I DO WRONG?!" but then she comes back in and says "What do you think of Katie?" I said I didn't really know her, and she seemed kinda grumpy in a cute way. Cathy told me that my mom said I could start half-boarding her asap, as long as we got along.
Let me tell you about my previous experience with Katie: NONE. I know that she's a thoroughbred and 11 years old. I've lead her in a few times, watered and fed her while she was in her stall....but that's it. I *never* saw this coming. Apparantly, the opportunity came up because her owners are two seven year old little girls, and they hardly get to ride anymore because their mom is a stewardess. Katie is the type of horse who needs a Mom.
Her ground manners are fantastic, except she drops her foot after you pick it instead of taking it back from you. Minor annoyance.
My first ever ride on her went pretty well. She's cold-backed, and Cathy told me she bucks when she's uncomfortable. I was also told that she's very particular about who rides her. I wasn't expecting a great ride from all of this, and I didn't get a great ride, but I got a very good one. I only did walk/trot because we were outside and she was really rushing towards the barn in a spot where she dumped her owner before. I had to cut my ride short, too, because she got a rub from the girth. I'm going to use a different one from now on. She falls on her forehand very quickly and tripped because of that, so I really have to work with her on that, especially with her being cold backed. I really need to keep constant outside aids on her, which will take some transitioning on my part because Cindy knew how to neck rein and it made using outside aids that much easier for me. Her trot is so awesome, she covers so much ground that it feels like I'm flying. It's tough though when she wants to break into a canter, but I think that was just because she was outside today and excited. A couple of things I REALLY liked were her transitions. Cindy has a funny trot-walk transition, it takes about ten jigging strides to get her to walk. With Katie, all you have to do is drop your weight just a little and she'll drop right into the walk. She's be trained up to second level, and she listens very, very well to seat aids.
My half-board officially starts on May 1st. For the rest of this week, I'm going to try and get out to the barn to groom her and massage out her back and just get to know her more.
I still don't know how to break the news to Cindy, though. I'm glad I'm not as upset as I thought I would be about moving on. If I were to move on to Fancy or Odie, I'd be mega bummed. Neither of them need another rider, and neither of them could ever see me as their person. I tihnk the fact that Katie really does need a person, and that person could very well be me, is gonna help me move on from Cindy. I may keep riding Cindy occasionally, for fun. And I'm still going to spoil her ROTTEN!
Another great part about today? I was standing by the fence while everyone was grazing their horses, and Buster came right over to the fence like "HI! I'm here!" and later when I went out in their field to get Teddy, Buster Brown trotted right up to me like "Oooh, I know you! Look, look! It's MEEE!" I luvumz that horse too much.