Life's little challenges.

I had a bad start to the morning. First off, the winds were down right scary last night, and they kept waking me up. I expected a tree to fall on the house, they were so bad. Amazingly, as far as I could tell, no trees fell.


Next, I started out for work, and my car wouldn’t start. After thoroughly checking the battery’s connection and charge, I had to call a tow truck. I ended up an hour and a half late for work. Fortunately, I was able to use my dad’s car. I think it is the starter. I’m still waiting to hear—I’m sure it will be expensive.  Thunder, my cat, was thrilled.  At last, he was able to keep me home longer to cuddle.  He purred and purred and purred.

My rides last night were good. The river was too high to cross, but we missed the bad rain yesterday, and the forecast looks good. It think we will be crossing on the weekend. I rode Cruiser on the hill 3 times. I rode Cole in the indoor arena. I have truly slayed the dragon—I spent most of my ride doing full laps at the walk and trot, and I wasn’t afraid a single time. He didn’t spook, either. Hurray! I think that stage is over with. Our issues now are more complicated. He loses his balance when we go from corners to straight and back to corners. I’m sure most of it is me. If he had a normal trot, I could just sit still—but with the big trot, I have to try to stay still and still coordinate my aids for the changes. I have a long way to go…

I rode him down the hill to the river after the ride, and he was very hyper. He only trotted once, but he walked very, very fast. I have found that our horses are always more hyper in the evenings, and Cole is no exception. He has been doing well when I ride him down in the mornings after our arena ride. I shouldn’t have bee surprised when he was a firecracker when I turned to go up. I ended up leading him, and he still was a problem—trying to trot, but not as much as in the past when I have had to lead him up. It will just take us time.