Sweat, Bulls, and Rain!

It has been kind of rainy here in the mountains. Really weird! We don't usually get this much rain in the Summer time but thanks to global warming we are getting a lot. I rode Babe/Ava yesterday, luckily the weather was nice and warm. Before we saddled up I started out by walking her over to some little bulls that were acting crazy. She is getting better around cows, not great but better. Ava was kind of snorty at the beginning (mainly because the other horses around were in "hyper mode" and wouldn't chill out) but I built her up to them and she ended up doing really well.

After the bulls were taken care of I took her into the barn and put her in the round pen. Then I went off for a minute to gather the equipment I was going to need. When that was finished I free lunged her for longer than usual, I wanted her to be nice and chill before I got on. Nobody likes a crazy horse! (Maybe some people do!) I hadn't been able to give her a big workout because on Saturday she needed her booster PHF shot and I can't ride the day after. It is amazing how much energy she has even after missing one day of exercise. Anyway, when she got all tired and sweaty we saddled up and headed over to the arena. A newish (novice) rider was riding in there so I couldn't do too much at first. When she finished though we worked on desensitizing to the scary corner of the arena, the other day Ava spooked quite a few times over there because people were fixing a fence and it was making some loud noises. It annoyed the crap out of me... But she did a lot better today. Then we did rollbacks while trotting or loping off. That was fun and it helped with her leads! Finally when I got her listening to me I rode her outside. It was just around the barn but then pushed it towards the outdoor arena. She did good, a couple spooks but she's definitely getting more confident with each outing. I just have to be patient and remember to build up to things, I can't just force it on her and expect her to do it right away, I always need to remember that.

It was a good day.

Currently I am obsessed with Instagram! This is Babe right after her workout.