Mustang Saga

Had another really great ride with Tonka today. He was really twitchy when I first got on, but he got over that after a bit. (Oh, I fell in love with the horse he was tied next to when I got there. He was sweet and very handsome. And he's for sale, but for once I wasn't really even all that tempted. Really.) I was shaky and out of it a bit myself, from taking Benadryl late last night, staying up too late, and just generally not feeling good. I think I have a cold. This is just a bit too much to be allergies. Not so much itching, but a sore throat and all the sinus junk and I haven't been feeling right.

Sorry for the train of thought type writing today. Can you tell I'm a little bit off my game?

So anyway, we screwed around in the arena for a long time. Todd had unknowingly left me an opportune obstacle, a lunge whip on the ground. We walked around it, and it was SO going to jump up and eat Tonka. So we walked around it a lot more, on both sides. Mostly it was going to eat his right side. I saw it lick its lips in anticipation of a tasty meal. Well, Tonka saw it do that, and he wouldn't lie to me, right? So eventually we walked over it, and Tonka lunged forward and turned at the same time, and I fell off. Hahaha. Actually it was kinda funny, and I'm sure it looked really funny. I was laughing about it. No concussion this time, just a slightly sore tailbone. Not even as sore as when I went to the Pete Ramey clinic and spent so much time sitting and driving and sitting and listening and sitting and driving some more. I got back on and we did walked over some more, then went out to ride.

When we went into the pasture a big herd of bucking stock was nearby, and they went galloping off into the distance. Tonka wanted to go with them really bad but he listened to me really well. We crossed the creek, fiddled around on the bank, and watched the new filly race through the creek a few times. Tonka has a tendency to rush up and down banks, so we're going to have to work on that some more. We crossed the creek again, this time travelling up the creek a ways. He's such a good boy! On the way back I worked on keeping him going in a straight line, which is rough for both of us. He drifts and I react slowly with my legs, but we're getting it. When we got back we crossed the lunge whip a couple more times, and the second time he did well, even though he stepped on it and it moved, he didn't flinch. So we called it a day. A good day. I love my horse.

I was going to bring him home tomorrow, but I'm going to leave him there for at least another week, and try to get out there as much as possible to take more lessons. It's not Tonka who needs more time, it's me. I do alright on Danni, because she's not a young punk, but I need to work on my reflexes and seat and stuff on Tonka, where it matters more. Childcare may be a bit of an issue. John is grumpy about the length of time I'm gone for each lesson so I'm going to have to try to find a way to do it without his or his mom's help. I'm going to call in all my very few supporters and see if I can impose on them a bit more than usual over the next week or two, so I can get this done. I was hoping to be able to bring him home and ride with my sister and get pointers from her, but she broke her collarbone so she won't be riding for a while. Which also means I probably shouldn't ask her to watch my kids... Oh, the joys... (I've been having a really kind of minor baby urge lately, but this will help to squash it. Cuddly babies are great, but free time is a beautiful thing, and I have no business having another anyway...) Actually if I put Liam in the roping box with some digging implements, maybe I can take them with me... Hey, that's an awesome thought...

Tomorrow it's working on going over poles and other things, since he's so hung up on that.