We've ALL still got it!

After dragging serious ass this morning, I got Bobby groomed and tacked up in a record slow time. It was grey and chilly outside and I felt my motivation for jumping quickly fading. I threw Robert out on grass by the round pen and then leaned against the gate for about five minutes, staring at the empty arena. Someone had put all the jumps away to set out a barrel pattern. Nothing wrong with that...except I was feeling lazy enough as it was, and now I had to set up my own jumps? That involves working brain cells to set up something besides a vertical parked in the center of the ring. Les sigh. First world problems.

look out. most exciting course ever.

Everything was set at 2'3". I figured if I was going to try to learn to jump again, I might as well do it at a height that involved minimal effort from my horse. I warmed Bobby up, complete with a butter smooth change, and approached the vertical on the bending line by itself. Light hands, light seat, steady leg, forward pace, flawless execution. Bobby didn't deviate from his pace once. Say what? Came over it a couple more times before adding in the other vertical to complete the bending line. Same easy jump as before. He was a hair crooked to the second jump in the two stride, but on the second round he was spot on and I called it quits on the jumping.

I see the appeal of you classy hunter riders. It's rather nice having a horse not charge and barge his way around a course. I'm sure Bobby thought it was rather nice not having a rider rip his face off while digging her seat bones into his back. Learning curves, folks. Sometimes they're larger than others. It was ballin' to know that I can still jump like a normal human being when I get my stupid head out of my stupid ass. Latent jumping prowess? I'll take it however I can.

Sarah and Memphis joined us as we were warming up. I poked fun at Sarah for looking like a Hunter Princess with her fancy CO helmet with her hair tucked in, fancy tucked in shirt, beige breeches, and tall boots. We are not usually the best dressed people at the barn. She proceeded to show me why she is the Eq Queen when she puts an ounce of effort in and she and Memph made up a course to flaunt their own latent badassery. They've been hanging out with me too long, I think.

bobby was all, "hunter princess? here's some slobber to bring
you back down to earth."

I did a little more flat work with Robert when I was done jumping, including a calm-as-can-be walk to canter counter transition. He did one lap of the ring fine before starting to get a little strung out and heavy. I pushed him through two more laps, but that's something he can use some work on in the future.

Sarah wanted to take Blackberry for a spin so we agreed on a quick trail ride. I let Bobby have a drink of water and some hay while Sarah switched horses. Stuck his dressage bridle on and away we went.

the return of the godfather.

Blackberry was cray cray! He's being leased by a more novice rider so he doesn't get to much more than plug around the arena a few times a week. He was ready to get back into the role of our trusty trail partner again. We had to run up our hill of course. Bobby never, ever wins against B. Quarter Horses, especially angry, highly competitive QHs like this one are far superior sprint rivals to my big, awkward TB. However! B was so busy being a holy terror for his mother that Bobby and I snuck by them at the end. I heard Sarah call out in surprise as we went by. That's what's up. Poor Bobby finally won a legit race. (Memphis doesn't count. Dutch Hippos do not come from racing stock like black QHs.)

Have we finally uncovered Bobby's own latency? The latent racehorse gene? I'm good with any type of forward from this horse. Fingers crossed we have actually gotten ourselves sorted out by our first show. Wouldn't that be a fucking miracle?

We did a good jag of trotting, heading towards the creek where Sarah wanted to see if B would go in it. That's right--Sarah wanted to go down there. Bad decisions are not always on my back. (Can I set that as a tag on this post to always come back to it?) Bobby plowed right in like a good pony, splashing across and turning around to wait on the other side. Thankfully, we turned around just in time to catch B diving his nose to the ground. "Ooh, bank? Bank into the water? There's water? There's grass! Oh, there's my mother in the water."

bobby's like, "there's something not right about this picture."

Sarah rolled right off his shoulder and landed on her back in the stream. Being the good friend that I am, I managed to gasp out between hysterical giggles, "I'm only laughing because I know you're okay!"

i dunno. b looks kind of proud of himself.

Good ole B. Back to his trail riding shenanigans with a bang. Sarah thought it would be a good idea to risk fate and continue on across the road and up the hill. Personally, I thought this was asking to get hit by a car or likewise, but we crossed without incident. Bobby led the way up the monster hill and reminded me at the top that my dressage bridle doesn't lend itself to brakes or steering when out of the arena by refusing to stop and tripping up a little bank into a corn field. He was suitably embarrassed about falling on his face and stopped after that incident. We decided it was best to just head home before one of us died.

That involved going back down the monster hill. I had walked down the hill from the outdoor with my feet kicked out of my stirrups and my reins at the buckle. I had walked down the hill to the creek with one hand on the reins. Today I had my fucking genius cap on and I kept my reins loopy as Bobby headed down. He got a little quick, but I used that oft forgotten aide The Seat to slow him down a bit and we made it down for only the second time ever! We didn't fall off a cliff this time! Winning!

Also winning was Bobby in the company of B. We trotted home with Bobby on a loose rein right next to B who was giving us his best Rabid Llama impression for Bobby's audacity to get within ten feet of his majesty. Much better than his random bitch attitude towards Memphis. No one messes with the Godfather.

I rode him for nearly two hours so as I was grooming him and putting my stuff away, he fell asleep with his head in his feed tub. He must have missed his morning nap. Fortunately, he had plenty of time to get one in before he got turned out. He leads a rough life.

And for Kristen, here's how Bobby reacts to wild horses racing by him: