Muddling Through

I'll be honest: the first ride in our new summer program was, quite frankly, not a lot of fun at all. It was muggy and hot and Tristan was not interested in playing.

He was so, so painfully behind the leg when we got started, and every time I put my leg on opted instead for a hopping, half-bucking, disjointed canter. I left the reins long and loose and kicked harder.

It will surprise exactly no one that he took immediate advantage of that and threw his head down and arched his back. I had a brief moment of "ohshitwhathaveidone" and then sat two or three of the best bucks he's thrown in quite some time before I could snatch the reins back.

After that, he lost his loose rein warmup privileges and I put him in boot camp. It was one of those gritted-teeth, wet saddle pad rides. I was actually pleased at the way it ended, with some really lovely canter work and one or two very good transitions.

We finished with a walk around the fields and a trot/canter up the hayfield hill, then a bit of a hose off and some hand grazing.

Tonight: fitness work. Trot sets. Yaaaay.