It was a rainy day yesterday so when got the the barn, Zoe was in her stall. She was definitely juiced and ready to go! We started as we always do, lunging both directions walk/trot/canter. At first she was testy but relaxed and had a good lung.
After I got on, another girl and her horse came in the arena to ride. No biggy. She had a slower horse (most horses are slower than Zoe) so she stayed on the inside. We did some AWESOME relaxed, collected trot work. It was so relaxing and enjoyable. She felt so good and I was feeling very confident. So I asked her to canter. She BLEW up! I guess I caught her off guard because she came unglued! She jumped forward, I clamped down, she jumped straight up, I fell forward onto her neck which scared her and she got to bucking. I almost made it through the explosion but the last buck did me in. I hit the dirt. It wasn't a hard fall (or graceful) but I was on the ground, none-the-less. I was totally unprepared for that. I was so relaxed and confident with the way our trotting was going that I thought the canter would be just as easy. Not the case. The next time I asked for the canter she was about to explode again but this time I was able to grab a rein and turn her butt around and she stopped.We spent the remaining 30 minutes trying to get a good canter. It was a ton of work. I can't even tell you how many times I had to ask to canter, she would canter a few strides and then slam on the breaks. Once I got her going good in one direction, we switched directions. Then she just made a B-line for the gate. I really had to get after her. At this point, I'm frustrated and getting angry with her. I kept my cool though and kept working. I was able to get her into a canter but it was the wrong lead. AHHH!!!! So I asked her to trot so we could try again and she slammed on her breaks, typical for the night. We kept at it until I got one and half times around at a good canter and called it a night. After all that, we ended it on a good note. The trainer said that tonight was a big night for Zoe and me. Zoe was testing me and I was learning to deal with her. We had some good rides and tonight was a bad night but we made it through it and still ended on a good note. We were both exhausted though.
After the lesson, the trainer and I were talking about Zoe's raw talent for being a rope horse. The trainer has never met a horse with as much rope horse intuitiveness as Zoe. It really would be a shame not to turn her into an awesome rope horse. But I'm not that person. I'm not interested in becoming a roper. The trainer said she was talking to a roper last week about Zoe and with what she told the roper, they think I could probably get some good money for Zoe. I could take that money a buy me a good, broke reiner. I don't know what to do...
Until next time!
Quote for the day:
"The way to get things done is not to mind who gets the credit for doing them."
-Benjamin Jowett
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