Thursday, July 26, 2012

Riding the old red guy and a bonus

Well.  Yesterday evening was fun, instructive, and very, very hot.

I should point out right now that TSB was correct: I definitely needed to get on Cuna and see what that ride felt like, if only for a reference point.   I really did need to get on a non-Reveille horse.    And as it happens, I got on TWO non-Reveille horses.  :)    MT and TW were also correct about the sort of horse I'd like.   I'm thinking that putting horse hunting in TW's hands might be a brilliant idea, but it's not like she's dead busy or anything.  ;)    Anyway, on with the story:

We got Cuna and Corvi, the new schoolie mare that TSB was riding, tacked up and sorted out, and headed down to the arena, where Cuna and I proceeded to walk, trot, canter, and hop over a tiny crossrail while Corvi and TSB watched and coached.   I didn't get any pictures, but I think TSB did get a couple.  None of me on the giant red guy, though.

That might have been because I was SO uncomfortable and out-of-place on him, though.   Walk and trot went well.  Cuna was patient and had this feeling of rolling his eyes the whole way through -- "oh good grief, another deranged monkey on my back.  Great." -- but was cooperative.   His canter, though ... yoiks!  Indeed, it felt so very different.  :)   MUCH faster than Rev's.  I felt like I had a lot less control.   I did NOT like it, Sam I Am, did not like it at all at first.  TSB poked and prodded me into doing more and more canter transitions, and things got much better as time went on.  After a while, I felt like I could actually make it work if I were to invest time and effort ... but Cuna wouldn't be my first choice of ride.  Especially when jumping -- I got the "clinging like a deranged monkey" thing going pretty well.  :)

However!  TSB pointed out that the fact that I came out, hopped on a huge unfamiliar horse, and went walk-trot-canter-jump was (my word: slightly) impressive in the first place, so I didn't feel quite as bad about not clicking with him in the least.  ;)   And after the jumping, I was D. O. N. E. done.  Hot, sweaty, a little nauseated ... heh, I should have drunk more water at work.  So I pulled the ripcord and said no more until I've gotten some water and cooled down a little.   TSB was teh awsomest and went and got water while I sat in the shade and boiled.

She also handed me the reins to Corvi, who was happy to stand in the shade and be cute while I boiled and drank.  TSB had said how little she likes to ride Corvi and how unattractive she thinks Corvi is ... heh.  I thought she was utterly adorable and funny.  Granted, she doesn't have a pretty head like Cuna, but she has the cutest roaning on her eyebrows and has such a nice expression.   She's not nearly as tall as Cuna, maybe 15.2 or 3, and a dark bay.   Some sort of warmblood, 14 years old, and intended to be a schoolie for TSB's teacher.  So Corvi and I sat and talked and drank water.

Since Cuna unsettled me so much, I ended up hopping on Corvi for our short trail ride.

Can you see where this is going?

Yeah.  I <3ed her.  She was calm and polite and didn't intimidate me one bit.  She even came down and onto the bit, even though I was stuck in a really crap saddle and couldn't really use my leg or weight.  She was supposed to be a kick-on ride, but I didn't find her too bad at all.  Of course, this was on a trail, so it might be different in the arena.   We did a little canter, even, and that was fun!  Trot was easy and comfortable, she wasn't too stiff laterally, etc.  And she has funny huge mare ears.  :)

I need to find out if she's for sale, and ride her a little more ...   I swear, if she ends up being the surprise perfect horse and I buy her, TSB will kill me, and then we will laugh ourselves sick.   I am -- as usual -- trying to not get my hopes up.

So yeah.  TSB took pity on overheated me and whisked the tack off the horses and rinsed them while I drank another couple of liters of water.   I knew there was a reason I ride in the indoor when it's this hot!  It's out of the sun!!  I can cope with hot, or sun, but not hot + sun + not enough water.    We fed and tidied, and then off to Sonic for a very cold slushie.  :)

An instructive evening!




7 comments:

  1. Yay! I'm glad everything went well, monkey clinging aside it sounds like you had an very great night!

    ReplyDelete
  2. To each their own. Good thing you didn't love my old man too much. He's not going anywhere. ;-)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Damned if she does, damned if she doesn't.
      "You better not like my horse" vs.
      "What do you mean, you don't like my horse? Why don't you like my horse? He's perfect!"
      ;)
      All my barn mates are secretly and not-so-secretly jealous of my amazing horse luck with Bohemian. And I like it that way.

      Delete
    2. Yep. Probably better that I didn't adore him and want to steal him! :) He's perfect for TSB, for sure!

      Delete
  3. I know Corvi very well actually, Derek leased her all last year, the owners last year at the time were not willing to sell but lease but who knows now. I know that she used to be a Hunter I think 3'3, she and Derek did lots of pony club stuff and she did some eventing as well from what I saw she was willing to do everything but moved like a hunter not an eventer:p dressage was not her strongest

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Interesting! Good to know! She was actually pretty easy to put together, so I am surprised to know she's not super at dressage. Still -- this is good to know!! And hey, at my level, moving like a hunter isn't the worst possible thing. ;) Do you know what type of warmblood she is?

      Delete
  4. Sounds like a really fun time. Two horses instead of just one. =) I recently made the switch from a Paint (Quarter horse build) to a TB, and it was definitely an adjustment!

    ReplyDelete