Sunshine’s First Ride

Sunshine hadn’t had a saddle on in quite awhile. Over a month at least. He has had harness hanging off of him instead and that certainly hasn’t hurt or hindered the riding training.

I put a saddle on him then hopped on Rusty bareback and we rode to the mailbox and back. I may have nearly slid off Rusty. He has the hardest back I’ve ever seen to sit bareback. It would have been funny to fall off the old broke horse while trying to start the young one.

We got back and I kept Rusty up close for emotional support. For Sunshine, not me That kept Lady up on the other side so Sunshine had plenty of company.

Sunshine was so completely chill in the ’round pen’. It is not round nor is it a great place to start horses, but it’s what we have and it works. He was making perfect circles around me loose, at a walk and trot. He didn’t particularly feel like trotting and had no interest in a canter, so we kept it slow and calm.

Then I called my husband to come out for his part of the job.

Sunshine has been walking over and lining up to the fence for a long time now for me to sit on him. This was a first ride, not a first sit. I left him standing in the middle and went to climb the fence. He almost beat me to it and was waiting in position.

I sat on him. Fiddled a bit. Played a bit. Gave plenty of cookies.

My husband got there and they practiced walking in a circle. He doesn’t do horses and Sunshine needs to get used to new things.

Their first circle was a bit iffy. Sunshine jigged and nervously bounced around. A complete change from out quiet circles we had been doing.

After a few times around they both calmed enough that I got on.

I’m using the old barrel saddle instead of mine. It’s comfortable enough for me and fits him better. But, the stirrups aren’t turned. I couldn’t quite get my foot on the stirrup. We made the circle that way. Sunshine had his head in the air pulling on the lead and jigging.

I missed having my stirrup.

But we made it back to the gate and I hopped off again. We all sat and chilled. I waited for my heart rate and Sunshine’s head to come down. More sitting and scratching.

Then we did another circle.

This time I made sure I had my stirrup. We were all much calmer. Sunshine walked. It was good. So we went back to the gate and got off. Ended on a very good note.

It was 29 degrees yesterday. My computer tells me that’s -1c. Warm in the sun out of the wind. Freezing with any breeze or shade. Today is supposed to be colder and colder still for the next week. I wanted to try again today but it might be best to let it sit with a successful ride instead of messing anything up without decent weather to try to fix it again.

Maybe we’ll go for a drive instead or play at some tricks. He says he misses that with all this ‘work’ we’ve been doing instead.

See my wonderful Christmas present?

My husband finally just bought me a helmet. I’d been looking but couldn’t make up my mind. This one was a pretty color and was the only one of the ones I had been looking at, the ones that were recommended to me, that was available in the right size. That made the choice easier. And I love it. So comfortable.

No, I don’t usually ride in a helmet. No, I’m not interested in hearing about that. But, on young horses the odds of injury increase significantly. My husband hates this starting horses thing enough. He gets really upset when I get hurt. It’s the sweetest thing.

He’s happier with me slightly protected. And I recognize my need to stay healthy and get those children raised. So, with young horses, I wear my helmet.

Which is so much more fun when it’s pretty

No pictures from the riding part. We were slightly busy with the other things going on. Maybe next time.