1/17/10- First time to ride in 2010!!

YAY! I rode yesterday for the first time in 2010. Which reminds me that I didn't fullfil my resoulution to write down my hours in the saddle this year.. Oh well.. haha.. I also got her a new rope nose hackamore! She responds much better to it and accepts it nicely.

Anyway, snice it was like 55F out, I rode! I didn't practice barrels because who ever devlivered ourhay put the round bale in the middle of my barrel pattern. Gah. I caught Diamond and she was pretty good. She is still learning to stand tied; she pawed and kicked and tried to rear while tied yesterday. Once she settled down, I groomed her out really well and she litterally fell asleep. I then helped my brother (who is a begginer) groom and saddle his horse. After he was finished, I went to get the blanket and saddle. Do you ever have a problem with saddling? Diamond has "all of a sudden" had a fear of saddling. I have no clue what her problem is besides she doesn't want to work. I let her smell the blanket and then I put it on her (after she continueously moved). As I was adjusting it, she nipped at me! Twice! I untied her and backed her up. The saddle was easier to put on then. Once I got everything on her, I lead her out of the stall so I could mout up. She then stepped on my foot, causing me to loose balance, fall on my butt, and then she thought she could just stand there on my foot. It hurt, but I finally got her to back up and off. Once I got on, she backed up. She wouldn't quit backing up, even if I said woah, or tried to kick and let her have her head to go forward. I told my mom, and she said to just make her back up the next time she did that; make it seem like a punishment. Diamond does this when she doesn't want to work, she has lots of quirks ;) Keep in mind, I haven't ridden her in a few weeks, due to weather and Holidays. So once we got going, she did pretty good. The only thing was that she bucked like 3 times and reared a few; which I took care of by backing and turning her in circles. Then we went to ride with my little brother. We loped a few strides (the ground was still soggy and I didn't want to risk anything) and mostly trotted. All in all, it was a pretty good day. Today is supposed to be 62F out. I'm going to finish school fast today and go ride my fat hayburners! Haha :) I'll hopefully post pictures tomorrow. Until then, TTFN or Ta ta for now!