woohoo!

Today was a pretty sweet day. I got there and Robert and Chuck distracted me for a while with goats. Then they took Nicky out so I swept the aisle and took Dylan to the arena to stand and watch ponies dragging things. He didn't actually get to see it, but I took this time to let him explore the Things in the arena. He was curious about the chair and sniffed it. I was about to move it for him to spook at, but then he stuck his head in up to the eyes between the armrest and the seat, realized he was stuck, pulled back, and the chair lifted for a minute with him and then bounced onto the ground. He regarded this as a "huh. Cool." experience. I love this horse! I bitted him and he was not terribly happy about it, but he lunged as well or better than he normally does.
I think we took Keno out then? Keno regarded us with sad puppy dog eyes because we were going to torture him. I ground-drove him with just the single tree attached, and he was slightly unhappy but mostly okay with it. While we were attaching the tire to the tree, he got squirrelly and started dancing, and ended up getting a trace between his legs which was cause for alarm and a minor freak out. Everything was okay though, and we went off. He tried throwing a fit and killing Robert, but did not succeed. I noted that Robert did not drop the leadline and run for safety like he told me to do.
Then it was lunch for Robert, so I applied anti-tail-rubbing magic to the four front boys (Reno, Keno, Imp, and Dylan). It's supposed to be good for fungal infections, so I gave some to Lady's bald patch. Imp is seriously stressed out over life. He didn't want to come into his stall to see me, which is unusual, and every time I touched his tail/hindquarters he flinched. I meant to come back to currycomb him a little but didn't get a chance. He shakes every time we hitch him up, too. I wonder if he still thinks Robert and Jerry are too heavy to pull, or if Jerry is unpleasantly different on the reins than Robert?
I still had time before Robert came back so I saddled and lunged Lady. Cari was there and watched her lunge. She's off on her left front, which is the more crooked of her legs. She's avoiding the turn and just going straight. Cari's suggestions were to either lunge her in a frame with side reins or to do lots of straightaway work, like in the back forty next to the driveway, and maybe that would build up enough muscle that she could take turns. Also, she asked if Lady was spooking before turns or indiscriminately-- before turns might mean she just doesn't want the pain that she associates with corners.
Also, it's a week before the dressage show. So Robert thought maybe I should ride Luca. I agreed. He was good about leading, good about tacking up, and pretty good for mounting. He was good for riding, too! We put the pad under the saddle. He acted up a little-- was a little stiff in his turn away from Moonbeam, whinnied a few times when someone called first, and would occasionally motorcrab slightly to the left, but he was a very slow motorcrab. No bucks, no rears, etc. He still doesn't halt straight or square, and we need to work on his free walk, and I need to work on my geometry. But he was good, AND he got a little sweaty. Robert credited the pad for all of it. I credited the pad, improved leading skills, three weeks since being ridden, the weather, no other horses in the arena, and possibly the show so he realized there was a point to all this. He grumbled that I had a point.
And we worked Reno, just walked him around the field twice. He was pretty thrilled about all the grass. Less thrilled when we smacked him with the reins/whip for eating it. We were clearly offering it to him by driving through there.
By the time I got done with Reno it was 3:30. I decided to sit and read through the dressage test booklet Cari had brought with her, and then I watched Cari and Sammi do their tests. Xsarena kept trying to walk towards me because I let her lick my hands, but Cari asked me to bring a dressage whip and when I went towards them Xsarena squealed and did a mini-buck. She seemed to forgive me, though.
I fed, had to chase Bella into her stall, as well as the goats. Nicky was much better though I did have to smack her once. I wasn't going to make the 4:30 bus. So I sat down, realized I hadn't eaten since breakfast, and got the trail mix. I'd shoved two handfuls into my mouth when I remembered that Robert had told me Dylan's owners were coming to visit tomorrow and we should pretty him up tomorrow. Since Dylan didn't really lead when he got here, I figured he probably also wasn't a big fan of baths. So I acquired Dylan and walked him to the wash stall and showed him the Magical Hose of Acid. He was highly suspicious, and then interested, so I sprayed his hooves and legs, while he decided to stick his nose straight into the spray. This was okay. I led him back to his stall and he seemed intrigued and confused as to why his legs were wet but not the rest of him. Hmmm.....

Tomorrow I'm planning to get there around 9, I think, so I can work Dylan and at least spot-clean him before his owners get here. The deadline for the Foxfire show was today, but Robert said he could turn it in tomorrow. He wants you and Papillon to show him the test so we can decide whether or not you should go (I'll read it to you). He agrees that spending a lot of time with her on trailers is a good idea. "She trailered here fine--" "and when was that?" ::sheepish:: "....seven, eight years ago?" I looked at him. "...Yeah, it might be a good idea." I'm scoring a lot against Robert these days. I meant to hack Papillon out today because she is giant and black and it was hot, but I didn't realize how fast time went today until it was 3:30.