Thursday Update

   Today was the last day of school!  Now I can ride in the mornings before it gets hot and have more time to work with my girl.  I got to the ranch around 4 and found Phoenix loose with the herd in the arena.  I tried to just slip her halter on while she was loose with the rest of the horses, but after she let me pet her and I moved in to put on her halter, she bolted and ran around the arena.  So I ended up locking all of the horses into stalls and Phoenix was super easy to catch since she was in a small space instead of loose in the arena.

   We trotted down the barn aisle and I tied my girl up to the rail so I could groom her and tack her up. I decided to go English today since its been awhile and I could use the practice.  I have to admit, it is a lot easier to tack up English than Western and a whole lot lighter.  Phoenix took her full cheek snaffle bit easy and we headed over to the arena.  

   Phoenix was being a butt today.  For some reason she did not want to go over to the arena, so she kept stopping and refusing to move.  Eventually, I got her into the arena and I hopped up and started walking around.  It felt weird being in an English saddle again, but Phoenix was doing really good in her snaffle as we walked and trotted around.  

   She was a little crazy at the canter, but she settled and I noticed that I am starting to find my seat on my girl.  Phoenix was doing super good at listening today, but she started not wanting to canter.  As usual, we picked up the incorrect lead to the left, and it took longer than usual to fix because Phoenix did not want to canter when I slowed her to a trot to fix her lead.  I kept having to keep leg pressure on her and smack her in the butt to get her to canter.  

   Eventually we got the left lead and I let her go around the arena a few times after I scratched her neck to let her know that she did good.  Then we worked on figure eights at a walk and trot (I can't get the left lead good enough to canter them yet).  Phoenix started out a little all over the place, but I got her listening and she ended up being comfortable going both directions doing figure eights.  

   I walked Phoenix for a few minutes and then I dismounted and led my girl out of the arena.  I got back on my girl and we hit the trails!  We headed down some dirt roads behind the ranch and cut across a field to the dirt lane that connects to the road that 45 is on.  It stretched out for a few minutes, so I let Phoenix out into a canter because she was listening so well and then I slowed her when we came to a paved road so we could safely cross.  

   I kept Phoenix at a walk for a little while because we kept passing houses with horses and donkeys that would run up to the fence and Phoenix kept trying to take off.  She seemed a tad nervous when we passed some minis, but I kept contact on her mouth and she got by ok.  Then we just trotted down a mile or so until we came across a flooded orchard (we have a lot of flood irrigation in Yuma).  I was originally going to just keep going down the road for a little while, but since I was taking Phoenix to the river this weekend and have never actually seen her go into water, I decided to mess around with the "pond".  

   It took a minute or so to get Phoenix into the water, but once she got in, she did not want to stop playing in it.  Phoenix seemed perfectly content walking around in the water and she kept splashing in the water with her muzzle (like she does in her water bucket) and pawing the water, getting us both super wet.  

   The only way I could get her out of the water was to urge her with my heels and smack her in the butt.  I'm glad she loves it (we plan on taking a river trip this weekend and I really hope she gets in) and I can't wait to see if she will actually swim this weekend.  

   After Phoenix and I were done messing around with the water, we started heading back to the ranch so I would be ready by the time my dad got there.  

   I was trotting Phoenix towards home when I saw a lady riding her bike towards us with her 3 dogs.  Knowing that Phoenix can get nervous about stuff like that sometimes, I slowed her down to a walk and the lady actually stopped her bike and dogs (though it would've probably been better if she had kept going).  Phoenix snorted when the dogs came near her and kept inching forward and then bolting to the left, where I pulled her into a tight circle and continued on forward.  

   Not wanting to keep the lady and her dogs there all day, I ended up hopping off of my girl and leading her away (she snorted at the green bike too so IDK if the dogs or the bike was spooking her) until they were far behind us.  Then I got back on and we continued on at a walk.  Phoenix did great until we came upon the mini pasture again.  

   It made her nervous before, but for some reason, Phoenix was freaking out on the way home.  She bunched up underneath me, so I knew she was going to pull a few things on me.  She kept trying to bolt (which led me to pull her into a tight circle) and backing up and snorting.  I tried to calm Phoenix down so I could urge her forward calmly, but I eventually had to resort to dismounting again (I had to hop off while she was circling because she wouldn't hold still).  

Phoenix looking back toward minis

   I continued leading Phoenix on foot across the road (I had to keep checking her because she continued trying to pull ahead instead of being respectful) and once she was calm and listening, I mounted her again.  I let her trot towards the ranch until we were a few turns away, then I pulled her down to a walk due to due her barn sour issue that luckily didn't seem to effect her today (also to help cool her out, not that she was that sweaty though thanks to the nice weather).  

   When we got back to the ranch, I untacked my girl and hosed her and her saddle pad off.  Phoenix wasn't hot or damp with sweat, but she had dried sweat caked all over so it took a little longer than normal to give her a quick hose down.  Next I put her tack away, ran a sweat scraper over her, and brushed out her mane and tail.  

   When Phoenix was almost all the way dry, I led her back to her stall, where she proceeded to roll (as usual) and started eating her dinner.  I think today was a ton of fun and a successful day.  I have noticed that Phoenix seems to only be super motivated during workouts if we are racing or out on the trail, so I will have to find a way to keep her moving during flatwork.