Wednesday, September 5, 2012

Alex is full of surprises

Alex has been a very good boy the last two days.  Yesterday we had a lovely ride in the outdoor arena that included lots of stretching and moving very forward.  I think I may have actually felt that trot I think is in there somewhere.  There was less bucking/hopping/screwing around cantering to the left which was nice.  He even managed to "keep his shirt on," although he did go into giraffe mode at first, when someone rode by the arena on another horse while we were trotting.  This is a major improvement over last time when he was bucking, hopping around and squealing.  There was none of that this go round, just highly attentive and curious, and that is OK. 

Tonight we had a major first, which was our very first ride in the oh-so-scary indoor arena.  Our indoor is not your normal indoor... this used to be an Arabian farm and next to the arena is a stage where horses were led across during sales, and where people sat to watch the horses shown in the arena... in one corner hangs a giant red curtain that, I suppose, used to separate the stage from the arena.  Add in the fact that he is an OTTB who has probably never even been in any type of indoor arena and it all makes for a VERY scary situation.  Since we'd had a storm right before I went out to ride and both the outdoor arenas were full of water, I decided maybe it was time to tackle the indoor.  I will admit, I wasn't very hopeful that I'd be able to do more than lunge him.  Of course, as usual, he proved me wrong, but in a GOOD way!  After a few normal baby antics on the lunge, I decided it was time to get on.  Other than being very "alert" and a little nervous around the end with the curtain, he really was VERY good.  We walked and trotted and even did a little stretching.  Alex is really getting into the stretching, and not just as a means to act like a turd.  I hope this means he's beginning to trust me, but either way I'm ecstatic! 

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