Horses will be horses...

More time has passed and I have not been diligent about capturing my thoughts. Too much to do and so little time... Last week was a slice of heaven -- vacation time and my first priority was Blu. Going to the barn in the early AM was out of the ordinary since I am an afternoon rider on weekends. Blu caught sight of me while out in his paddock and gave that quizzical "what are you doing here now interrupting up morning hay in the sunshine" look. Never the less, he was easily persuaded my presence was a good thing when I revealed the carrots that were waiting for him. He is so easy... or is he?

Despite his good nature and willingness to please, Blu is a horse. After 3 years of ownership he delighted me with some bad boy antics. Long lining has been added to our repertoire. While I can still initially fumble with the lines... what goes in which hand... I have got the feel for what I am trying to achieve. Blu loves his long lining. He immediately uses his back stepping under from behind, carrying over his back and deep into the bridle carrying his nose down by his fetlocks. Blu also is slightly opinionated so when he gave me a little "whee" and then a bunny hop kick when we started our session the other day I did not think much of it. I pushed him forward and he settled nicely into his work. Being habitual I always start his work to the left since this seems to be the easier direction. I give him plenty of time to walk and really stretch and then we go off to trot working transitions between gaits. Then we get a nice canter in. He just seems to grow into this really big horse. Then we go the right. This takes more time since he doesn't  necessarily like stepping under with his right hind. He will try and either not use it or swing it a bit wide. He seemed to warm up nicely to the direction so we moved on to the trot work. All was going well and then he felt like he was bulging through the outside shoulder and getting a bit strong in the bridle. I gave him a half halt and he scoffed at my attempt bulging more to the outside. I gave him an even bigger one and he went "WHOA" stepping on the brakes. I did not anticipate this reaction and found myself forced ahead of him and in front of his girth. He took full advantage then and slammed into reverse at full speed almost flattening our beloved barn manager and her sage mare. Of course there were others in the ring to notice our misadventure. Sweet... timing is everything.  I tried to let him have as much rein as possible and the asked him to whoa again and he just did not like it charging backwards again. Oh crap. Finally he stopped and stood still so I could gather the reins some and move him forward in the walk. Once settled and listening to me I asked him to trot and he was HUGE... OMG beautiful. We worked a bit more and then I took his naughtiness to the grooming stall to clean up. I picked his feet and then got the broom to sweep up around him like I usually do. His freshness thought I was going to assault him and kept spooking as I tried to sweep. Bad boy remorse... he was just pitiful. It carried over to the next day with twitchiness. He really is something!

Since then I had a wonderful lesson. I have decided that riding him with spurs is a MUST. I do not have to use them but their presence makes him so much more mindful of what I am asking him to do. Our canter work is perfection. He is balanced and uphill. We even did some working canter pirouettes... so much fun. Someday I will learn to sit his trot... someday. I am so challenged. Despite my zealous but failed attempts at trot perfection, I am making small gains... I need to let him carry me. We have moments. I just need to string them together... that's all. Despite the challenges I just can't wait for the next ride or to see his happy face.