Excellent Lesson!

I'm super tired, and had a very...well, crappy and long day after my ride. But I'd rather not elaborate on that.

Basically, I had a nearly impromptu lesson with Emma today around lunch. We worked on really getting her soft and listening, bending, and using her topline muscles. She was really really fantastic. Soft as butter, trying hard to stretch down and move out. Obviously she's out of shape and can't hold herself "in a frame" for that long, but the important thing is she's using the right muscles.

We did only a little canter work. She was pretty low and round as usual.

There were some hispanic men in the field next to us working - like a bunch. I guess seeding the field or something. Either way, it was funny, because Amber could NOT stop looking at them. Not in a spooky way, but she was so nosy! She was doing a lovely counterbend on the circle trying to watch them work. It was, although not very good for her attention span towards work, very cute.

She got a good hose off (with no kicking or threats to kick!) and some treats, and then went to her stall to take a nap with her neighboring mares.

Have I mentioned that she and two of her pasture mates, Darby and Deuce, are like the best of friends? Deuce is right beside her in the barn, and they stand beside the dividing wall all day, sniffing noses and being all friendly. And across the aisle to the side a bit is her other pasture mate, who always calls out a hello when I bring her back from work.

Except she doesn't at all get along with the Haflinger mare Pumpkin...like, Amber can just catch a glimpse of her and the ears go back. Definitely a hate-hate relationship. At least she gets along with the majority of the crowd. She does seem to love her mares. ;) And I'm super happy that she's actually found her place in a herd and has friends. She wasn't into being friends with any of the horses at Avalon. Period. I mean, let's face it. She waited at the gate trying to escape - she hated it.

Also...my gloves "disappeared" this morning. Emma and I were like "?" because I knew I wouldn't have left them anywhere and nobody would have taken them out of my cubby. It was when we walked out to the arena I realized what had happened. When I hop off, I take my gloves off and stick them through one of the stirrups after I run them up. Well, Amber is a shaker. She likes to do a full body shake after her rider is off (and sometimes when they are ON, although rarely). She definitely shook my gloves off right by the gate. Luckily, they weren't mowed down! They were just inches from where Bob had driven the mower earlier. Unharmed. Will teach me to make my horse carry my things! ;)