Gillian wrote most of what we did on Saturday. Um, I was absolutely shocked when Robert said "why don't you turn horses out in there?", gesturing towards the pasture. He actually meant Libby first. Which makes sense, I guess, because she's still pretty skinny. And then he amended it to "oh, all our horses can take a turn." Okay? I got Libby out. The pasture is behind the hay barn and next to the mare side of the main barn, so it's adjacent to Lady and Papillon's run, Sunny's run, and Eddy and Bella's run. It also runs along the hay barn, so Tilly and Rocky's run as well as the QHs (the QHs were out in the other pasture, which shares a fenceline with this pasture). I was a little concerned that Tilly and Libby would get too excited about being almost reunited. Tilly got a little worked up. Libby was like "oh hey grass" and totally ignored everything else.

Next I did Papillon and Lady. I turned Papillon out first, figuring Lady would come up and attack us both if I put her out first. Papillon was psyched up and then unhappy to discover herself so far from Lady. Lady was distressed as well. She was prancy heading out there, but kept herself in the right place with some effort. She was also really pissed that I made her stand still and wait for me to take her halter off, in such a way that she wouldn't wheel into me/be able to kick me when I let her go. They had some fun running around like idiots. Papillon still looks wonderful when she arches her neck and does her fancy warmblood trot. Lady had a blast chasing Papillon around periodically. Papillon was economical and kept a bite of grass in her mouth at all times.

Reno and Colonel were a decent pair, though Colonel was worked up and Reno was busy stuffing his face. Star and Niki got along, or so I was told. Niki walked up to meet me and didn't seem at all upset about leaving Star. Star did not want to leave the grass. Star hid behind Niki to avoid getting caught. I thought this was a poor idea.

Keno went out by himself, but quickly made friends with Doccer and Sis over the fence amid gorging himself. I left him out a little longer than planned (he's foundered before) but he seemed fine afterwards.

Between turning horses out, I longlined Libby. I got some decent bucks out of her and she had a general "screw you" attitude at first. She got mad at me for keeping her on too tight of a contact. I tried pointing out to her with my inside rein that if she moved a little bit into the circle, I wouldn't be in her face at all. She ignored it for a while then figured it out. At one point she really got into defying the Man and took off towards the tall grass. I am not as strong as a 15.1 Canadian. So I hung on and ran with her. She was in the corridor between the two big barns, and Keno was running in and out of his stall and run like an idiot, which didn't help matters. But, we got her turned around, and she was actually really good from there.

I rode Lady, too. I'm not altogether sure why I thought that was a good idea. Maybe it was because she looked sound in the pasture. I rode her once before- at a walk, around the arena, once. Gillian was planning on getting out Papillon and asked what she should do, so I told her she should be in the arena while I verified Lady's lameness, then go out in the field for a ride.

Lady's not that bad to tack up, a little wiggly but not terrible. She shakes her head when you mess with the bridle, which is irritating, but a couple smacks fixed that. I was sort of nervous- Ian (exboyfriend) used to ride her a lot a couple years ago and made a big deal about how hot and sensitive and a difficult ride she was, and how I *might* just maybe be able to ride her without completely ruining her or killing myself.

Yeahhhh. Ian said a lot of things I shouldn't have listened to.

Anyways. Robert came out of his house just as we were going into the arena, so sat down while Gillian and I mounted up. Lady was a little jiggy and spooky at first but settled down quite fast. She was fine at a walk, so we did trot- no tight circles, but big loose corners and me asking her not to drop her shoulder. I asked for contact, and I guess my hands were steady enough that she accepted the bit more or less fine. She wants to go behind the vertical a lot, but I didn't really want to mess with anything much. She had big loose floppy ears which Robert commented on, and I got the feeling she was having as much fun as I was. Her trot is really nice. She's actually a little less sensitive than Keno, but he's also in consistent work and we know each other really well. She has the capacity to blow up much easier than he does.

Robert got me to canter her down a long side once. She seemed pretty pissed by this, ears back. I don't know if this is how she just wants to go or if Ian trained her or what, but she tucked her head into her chest and went barreling along. I had to get a little insistent to bring her back down.

She felt not altogether sound. Lady definitely trots a little funky right rein, which makes sense because her more crooked leg is her right front, but from my experience, she won't want to work if it hurts. I'm okay with her not being sound, as long as she's not lame. After we trotted she really relaxed, though, and I think she likes me. If she stays at this level of soundness, I'll have to ride her more often. Shocking, I know, a horse that fits me.

Brought Keno in from pasture with none of the fireworks I expected. We tacked up and headed out to walk around the field once. Robert's made a path that he runs the tractor along. Keno decided it was way too squishy and refused to walk on it. He would jig on it, or walk next to it, but was not a fan of actually being on it. A couple times he tried to turn around and go home. He did get kind of jiggy on the last side, but it wasn't terrible. To his credit, he didn't spook once-- not at the horses on the other side of the fence, the man who walked up by the pond, or the car that drove past. We cantered a little in the "dressage arena" and he accepted contact there too.

Need to start riding Luca. Oh god, need to start riding him.