Taking the New Shoes for a Spin

On Tuesday, I rode Walker for the first time since he got his shoes put on, other than Sunday when I just walked him.  I pulled the stirrups for No Stirrup November and was pretty easy going about everything.

We mainly walked and jogged, but I did throw in a couple circles at the canter.  I also lunged him a little bit beforehand to make sure he was feeling up to the task.

Everything went well, except for a couple moments where he decided to throw a tantrum for no apparent reason other than he didn't feel like working.  Oh well.  We got through it.  I'm mostly impressed that I managed to fight back without stirrups!

All I know is that my everything is aching from the no stirrups, which is a good thing I guess, but my back is also killing me since it has been hurting for awhile now.  It's soon time to visit my massage therapist, I think.  Otherwise I'll never make it through No Stirrup November.

In other news, my lesson tonight got cancelled.  I was going to go out to the barn and ride anyway, but I'm approximately 8,000 words behind on Nanowrimo due to some unforeseen circumstances over the past few days.  It's probably best for Walker if I give him a couple off days in between rides for now anyway.

Soon we'll back at it for realz.  Soon.