Lays Potato Chips

Today I cheated on Walker again.  And I have to say, I didn't mind!  I feel like horses are like Lays Chips - you can never have just one!

It was quite a busy weekend actually.  Although Walker was still a little ouchie on Thursday, he seemed to be back to normal on Friday.  I managed to successfully canter him in both directions a couple full circles.  I was talking to my barn owner and she said, "I heard that you had a good ride."  To which I replied, "Yeah.  He was pretty good for me.  He bucked a couple of times on the circles but that's alright."  "That is NOT alright," she said.  And I said: "You have higher standards than me."  In truth, I think that I may actually cause some of the bucking, so I expect it to go away with time.  I think that I might jab him every so often with the spurs, so I really can't blame him for that.  I'm so used to his bucks now that I just consider it part of the ride!  Yeah, yeah, I know.  Probably not a good thing.

Boots all lined up in a row - on a tray of their own, of course

On Saturday I didn't get out to the barn because my mother was over.  We went to the local Greenhawk, which is actually an hour away, and bought some new Winter boots, a new bit I'm going to try on Walker, a crop, and spurs for a friend.  My friend has started riding a new horse in her lessons and he's spur-broke so she's having a hard time getting him to move forward.  She wanted me to pick some out for her because she doesn't really know much about spurs and I, of course, have used every type of spurs available!  I ended up getting her really mild ones because although I use spurs regularly, I am a firm believer in not using spurs unless you have to.  She is able to get the horse moving forward so I think all she needs is a little extra help.

My new Winter riding boots - they're fleece lined :)

Then that evening my barn was having an awards banquet.  It turned out to be quite a fancy affair.  It was in a local hotel's ballroom, and everyone got all dressed up.  There was a really nice meal, and my mother got to come with me.  We sat with my instructor, and a friend of mine at the barn and her family.  And Walker and I even won an award - champion senior novice!  My friend got reserve champion, and we were laughing to ourselves because it was pretty much a draw between the two of us except that I did one more show than her!  Oh well, I'm still pretty proud.  AND, as part of his prize, Walker got a big trophy and a new blue cooler.  So now I no longer need to buy a cooler, and I think that my barn owner specifically picked this award out for us because she came up to me afterwards and said, "That's his colour, right?"

We tried to take this photo in front of my Christmas tree but it was too bright - we're not the best photographers...

Today my mother came out to the barn with me before she had to go home.  Since I always ride bareback on Sundays, we just played around.  My friend (the reserve champion) was at the barn with her daughter, and she let me ride her horse Lark, who is a big fancy palomino Canadian Warmblood.  Let's just say that she's a COMPLETELY different horse from Walker.  For one thing, when I asked her to canter, she threw a big buck.  This is because what I thought was a "gentle" squeeze of my leg was actually probably the roughest she'd ever been asked - and that was me without spurs!  I laughed at the time because a squeeze like that would NEVER get Walker to canter; it probably wouldn't even get him to jog.  She was very forward.  Her idea of a nice gentle trot was what I would call Walker's kamikaze trot, and of course, like the good English horse that she is, she keeps her head much higher than Walker's.  It was a great experience, and my friend has asked me to ride or lunge Lark on Tuesday for her since she can't make it to the barn for a few days.  As much as I want to ride Walker on Tuesday, I really think I want to ride Lark.  Hopefully there will be time for both of them!

Walker sporting his new cooler; looking sharp as always

Also, as a final note, I am constantly looking at English saddles online because I think I'm going to save up for a new one in the next year or so.  I thought that I wanted a jumping or close contact saddle, but today I rode Lark in a dressage saddle.  And all I have to say about that is "wow".  Soooo comfortable.  It has such a deep seat that it even made sitting Lark's forward trot easy.  Maybe it's time to broaden my horizons...

Who am I kidding?  I am pretty proud of him!