Lazy Crazy

Walker was lazy crazy on Sunday.  I can't explain it other than that I put him on the lunge line, and he was completely fine - not fresh, not contrary, nothing.  But every so often, for random reasons I couldn't explain, he would take off like a rocket ship, buck or do something mustang-like, and then totally go back to jogging like a WP horse.  

Under saddle, he was panting to the point that I was nervous.  At one point, he actually took a giant intake of breath as we were cantering - we had, after all, cantered one half of the arena.

  

He's definitely out of shape, but I don't recall him panting this hard the other day.  He only got a couple days off.  Usually he breathes heavy at the canter (because lord knows how hard it is to do work), but then calms down once we slow down.  On Sunday he continued to breathe heavy after I stopped cantering and was really puffing during our forward trot session.

Needless to say, I only rode for about 25 minutes because it seemed imprudent to push too much.  Maybe it was just a fluke or the warmer weather.  I'll have to keep an eye on it.

I also ended up giving an impromptu riding lesson on Sunday.  Because lord knows I'm oh so qualified for that (*imagine that said with extreme sarcasm).

One of the ladies wanted to get on her horse and didn't want to be alone in the arena, even though we were all in the barn.  To give you context: she is just a beginner rider and owns a four year old off the track (although never raced) standardbred which she acquired greenbroke as a two or three year old and who has had one year of professional training.

Need I say more?

To the horse's credit, I actually think she's fairly beginner-safe, but she's extremely forward, which really isn't this lady's thing.  She takes lessons on another horse and is very diligent with her groundwork, but she doesn't ride her very much.  

She's also the heartless wretch mare that beats up Walker in the field.  She has attitude a plenty.

In terms of helping her out, I think she really just wanted reassurance that the horse wasn't going to freak out or take off if she squeezed her legs too tightly.  Of course, my response to every slight misbehaviour is "boot her!" which she does not do.  But I did help her get her trotting a bit around the arena, which she seemed appreciative of.  A good ride for all, I guess.