The Good, The Bad, and the Awesome!

The Good:

I harnessed up Rachel today, and drug an old tractor tire behind her.  This is the setup I use to make sure a horse knows how to move with weight on the tugs (including turning circles wide enough and not stepping over the tugs with her rear feet).

Rachel did awesome.  She is such a pro.  She responded to everything I asked her to do.  I even had her come around 180 degrees with the tire staying in place ( with me holding the chain up and tension on it) and she did it.

After dragging the tire around for quite a bit, I took her back up to the house and tied her for a nice break









The Bad:

No picture for this one.  After tieing Rachel, I saddled up Pam, and went for a ride.  Pam was doing pretty well.  She's still very green, and sometimes I have to use a lot of pressure to keep her head where I want it.  I'm thinking about changing her to a liverpool bit instead of the snaffle so I can get more bite on the bit.

We rode for at least 30 minutes, and then, out of the blue, for no reason that I know of, it happened.  Rachel suddenly decided to trot.  I have stopped her plenty and she's always done just fine.  Well when she started to trot, and I put on the brakes, Pam decided that she was going to override the brakes.

She sucked her chin to her chest and lept out into full on bucking.  Both rear legs were kicking out.  She headed in a straight line just bucking as she went.  Thank goodness for my australian saddle (love those wings!) and a mind that stays cool under pressure.  Even though she was bucking I kept talking calmly and trying to encourage her to stop.  After 100 yards of bucking (it seemed like an eternity) she finally started trotting, and then walked.  She then stopped for me and was fine.  I pet her really good on her shoulders for stopping and I tried to keep composed with all the adrenaline that was surging through my body.  I kept thinking that it couldn't end like that, so I did a few more laps with her, and then we called it a day.  I took all the tack off her, and put her away.  My legs were still shaking as I walked.  I haven't checked, but I'm sure I left a crease in the center of the saddle.  :)

The Awesome:

I chilled out for a few minutes, and then decided that since Rachel did so well at pulling the tire, I should really test her.  I would've loved to have tried her on a training cart, but since I don't have one, I used what I have.  :)

Rachel is SOOOO awesome!  She did an incredible job.  She was pretty tired, so I didn't do too much with her.  I went for a few quick laps, and then my wife and son hopped on and we went for a wagon ride.  We just kept it short and went around our whole pasture.  Rachel responded awesomely, and even backed the wagon up for me at the end so I could put it away.  She's amazing.

After such a great day, I brushed her out good, and gave her a more than healthy serving of her food.  I also decided that the girls earned a day in the pasture, so I turned them both out to eat the green grass that is growing right now.  They were in heaven.

I Love my horses!  They are incredible.  What an awesome day!