Bareback Barrel Day

 I got new boots yesterday!!  We went to 3 stores before I found any good quality boots in my size (Lerma's and Bootbarn).  Surprisingly, I found tons of great boot choices at Cal Ranch and I tried on 5 or so pairs of boots that I liked before I found THE ones.  Usually I go with rubber soles for traction (most of mine are Ariats) but this time I branched out to leather soled Justin Boots and I have to say that I love them!

  Today was a successful day if Phoenix and I ever did have one.  All the horses were already in their stalls when I got there, so I grabbed Phoenix headstall (with her competition bit, broken gag) so I could see how working her in the snaffle has helped her with her competition tack.  I try not to ride her in it too much minus races and checks here and there because I want her to continue reacting nicely too it and not become numb or used to it.

   I put on my helmet and smiled as my girl nickered to me when I walked down the aisle and said hello.  Phoenix was in a different stall today because she had been turned out with the herd yesterday, so she got to run around with them and was just put into a random stall for feeding this morning.  

   I hopped onto my girl and headed out into the arena bareback.  I worked on flatwork for a little bit because Phoenix and I still need a ton of work at it and I wanted to see how she was acting in her competition bit.  Overall, she did good, but Phoenix still doesn't respond too well to neck reining and I ended up having to do a combination of direct and neck reining.  She responds well though and slows down and stops when I asked which is an improvement for my girl though.  

   After a few tries, we got our left lead and then we worked on some turns.  I walked and trotted the pattern a few times before I loped so Phoenix and I were warmed up and communicating.  Though she doesn't really like to lope the turns at home (she lopes to them and breaks into a trot during our turn and then picks up a lope again), Phoenix did good at the lope and her left turns are really improving.  They still need work, but they aren't nearly as wide.  And my girl is listening when I tell her to rate before the barrel.  

   And another plus, I didn't fall off this time haha.  My girl and I have a long way to go but we are definitely improving as a team.  I worked on turns from both directions a little bit more and then I called it quits at barrels.  Normally I work on turns for a longer amount of time, but I've learned that once we do slow turn work and a good lope run (not full speed too often), it's best to call it quits at barrel work before we over practice and start not being able to get a good run in.                                                                              Sometimes its hard to stop working on turns when you dream of barrel racing, but short, successful work outs definitely show the best results and have less stress on both of us.  

   To calm Phoenix down and cool her off a little, I worked with her on walking figure eights using the whole arena.  It took a lot of concentration on my part due to Phoenix not wanting to stick to the diagonal lines across the arena and continuously trying to break into a trot.  Eventually she got the hang of it and I think it was good for us to work on figure eights in both directions for her bending and our communication skills.

   We also worked on rollbacks at a walk and trot on one side of the fence to work on encouraging Phoenix to turn by putting her weight into her hindquarters because that would help our turns a ton.  She is getting better at those, though sometimes Phoenix still likes to put her head over the fence instead of just turn on her hind end haha.  

   To top off our work out, I trotted Phoenix through figure eights a few times (it was funny when we passed a barrel and she wanted to turn it instead of continuing on the first few times) and then I walked serpentines down across the arena to cool my girl out.  

   I think that was one of the best work outs we've had in a while and we are definitely both learning every time we work together.  I can't wait to see what me and my girl can accomplish when we reach out potential.  

   I turned Phoenix loose in the arena for 10min or so (its so cute how she follows me to the gate to check if I'm leaving before doing her own thing) while I put her headstall away, grabbed some grooming tools, and grabbed a drink.  Then I caught my girl and brushed her down and hosed her off. Since we rode bareback today and it wasn't too hot out, I was planning on just brushing her out, but Phoenix had some dried sweat on her coat and I had time so I hosed her down and let her dry out.  

  When I let Phoenix back into her stall, of course the first thing she did was roll.  I've gotten over the whole I-just-cleaned-my-horse-and-now-she's-already-dirty thing.  Mostly because Phoenix is a horse that loves getting down and dirty (especially in the mud) and she always rolls when I let her out or put her away so I'm kind of used to it.  

   I can't wait till this weekend because Melissa and I are taking our horses to the river!!  I've been wanting to go for ever, but I can't drive so yay!  I hope Phoenix likes playing in the water cause it sounds like fun!  Only time will tell.