Mustang Saga

I went up and tried out Cimarron yesterday. He's a good boy. Gorgeous too. He's half kiger, half QH, and lived his first three years out on the range, so he may as well have been wild. He's got a skepticism that reminds me of Tonka. Worried about the mounting block, dots of light on the floor, a wheelbarrow that had moved. Nothing serious but at first I was wondering if I ought to ride him at all. It's been a couple months since he was ridden, and even then he's just sort of an extra horse, not much time spent riding in the last few years. I've heard stories of him bucking so that's in the back of my head too.

But after doing ground work and liberty work in the round pen I felt safe enough to climb on and try him out. He's not real responsive to my leg asking him to move over, and he had opinions about certain areas he didn't want to walk. He had a nice stop, a great one-rein stop, a good back up, and he's real comfortable to ride. Short coupled and stout. He's pretty cool. If I was still looking (and could afford him) I might ask if he's still for sale. I'll ride him in our next lesson, if he's not too boogery about being in the arena.

Then I came home and it was so nice out I had to get Scout out for a short ride. He was relaxed and mellow. I think he was enjoying the nice weather too. We worked in the field and did a reminder lesson on all the maneuvers he's supposed to know (he was very responsive) and then did some walk trot transitions. Surprisingly, his upward transitions were great but his downward were kinda sloppy at first. Normally he's lazy and it's just the opposite. Then my lovely, smart boy in the pasture decided to eat under the fence and get himself shocked. It was a loud snap! And of course he ran away and stood there snorting for a while. Even though this happened right behind us Scout didn't react too much and we went back to work.

Today is even nicer than yesterday. It's 43 degrees already, and the sun is bright. We're going to hit the trails with my sister. Good fun. I think Scout will enjoy the break from the arena work.

The leads I had on a couple horses didn't go anywhere. It's weird, these sellers that sound pretty motivated but then don't follow through. But that's okay because I don't want to add another horse right now. I'm still hoping Bella's lameness will pass, and even if it doesn't she might be okay for walking on the trail, which is what I mostly do anyway. And I'll have Tonka to ride in the summer (fingers crossed) so I think we're good for now.

Happy trails! Maybe I'll have some trail ride pictures for my next post.