graciemobile

I had another lesson today. It was really fun!

Me and Lydia switched horses today, so I was on Chris and she rode Buddy. Chris is a paint stallion, and he is much bigger than Buddy. I kind of missed Buddy, but Chris was more awake and alert, a nice change that was.

Our instructor told us to groom Chris, as Buddy wasn’t there yet. She said he wasn’t that dirty, and one side of him wasn’t, but the other side! Wow, he must have rolled in a mud pit! We got to comb his mane and tail too, so I found a pick inside of the groom bag. I commented to the teacher that the pick looked like it would pull his hair. She said that horses don’t have nerve endings in their manes, to show us that, she went over and ripped a clump of hair right out of his mane. We cringed, it looked painful, but he didn’t move.

Buddy finally got there so Lydia had to clean him up. I started to pick Chris’s hooves, he was nice and obedient. But there was a problem, Chris goes to the bathroom a LOT, and he had just gone and there was a fresh pile of you-know-what right by his back hooves. So I cleaned the front and back hooves on his left side, then I did the right side. The front hoof was fine, but the back hoof on his right side, AH! Yup, he had stepped in in and got the nice, fresh, warm, uh, you know… stuff, ALL OVER HIS HOOF! So I got it all over my hands and, UGH!

Saddling went well, I didn’t get to put his bridle on because Miss Emma said that he was touchy about his mouth. But I got all set and mounted up. He is higher than Buddy, but I found him to be more comfortable.

We went outside and practiced straight lines, very hard to do on horses. But Miss Emma said that we did really well. Chris and Buddy were eager and willing today, so it was easier to tell them what to do.

And trotting? That was an entirely different experience! Chris was eager and excited to trot, and he would start and KEEP DOING IT! Unlike a certain horse who’s name starts with a “B”, not to point anyone out. But it was comfortable and REALLY FUN!

We got to watch them give Chris his deworming medicine, he fought and tried to keep his head away. The sweet girl trying to give him his medicine was slightly nervous, but Miss Emma walked over there and grabbed his halter, jerking his head back. He still fought and got at least half of his medicine all over his face. Then he was smacking his lips in disgust for a while afterwards.

I enjoyed myself, I missed Buddy a bit, I but REALLY liked Chris. He had cute ears.