Still churnin' and burnin'
Hot as hades out there today... blech! I've been sweat and dried twice today, and will likely be at least once more, maybe twice before the day is over (and its already 4:00... ugh!)
Got a couple boxes of really important stuff packed this morning (mostly sentimental stuff, but still very important!) before I got ready to go ride. I was worried I'd have to take a hike to the back pasture to get him, but luckily I didn't, and they were all up in the front when I went out. Spent a bit of time fussing on him since H wasn't there yet, and so we were pretty much ready to ride when she got there. Since it was so hot I told her I wasn't really going to ride much so that she could work him a little more. She did a great job and said he felt great. He was even better than he was the last time for her, which was really nice. I have an entirely new admiration for her leg power, because she sure can hold him together, and I know how much leg strength I have, and it pales in comparison to her! Geesh!
She finished with him and asked if I wanted to get up on him and canter him since he was behaving so well. So I got my helmet and climbed aboard. And he did beautifully! I'm sure we looked like crap, but we did it, and he wasn't terrible. I had barely any leg left from just asking him to canter twice (I didn't have a whip either), but we did pretty darn good. He fell into the circle pretty badly, but the left is my weak side, and his strong side, and I didn't go to the right because that would have required more to hold him together even more despite the fact that the right is my strong side. He scrambles a lot more trying to find his gait on that side, so I didn't bother since I knew he was tired and I was pretty tired already. I got some video of her, and she managed to take a few pics of me, so I hope they turned out ok. I'm sure I look like a mess, but hey, we both lived and you've got to start somewhere. I was just thrilled that he didn't get emotional about it at all.
I got him untacked and hosed off to cool him down again and we headed up to explore the trailer. I hadn't opened it up yet, so I opened it when I got there while holding him, and he acted like a cat startled when I dropped the ramp on the side. He didn't move his feet, but he stretched backwards like a cat would when surprised by something. He was so tired that he didn't object to anything, and we were able to ask him to do a lot in the trailer. That solidified the decision that I would work him in the morning before we loaded him, probably in the round pen asking for canter and things so that he'll be a bit tired when we're ready to load. He did fine going forward far enough that I could raise the butt bar with H in front. He was also happy as a clam eating grass that she kept picking for him, so that made me feel good. I think he'll do just fine. I'll just have to make sure he's worked good before we leave so that he'll be too tired to be upset about anything.
I was wrapping up from all that about to eat, and A came by, and moved all her stuff up into the trailer. She invited me to lunch since we'd talked about that several weeks back and hadn't had the chance, so that was nice because I was pretty hungry by that time, and very thirsty. I finally got back to the barn after that and packed up all my tack and stuff. I have a lot of stuff! That's all either in the truck or waiting to be put into the truck once E gets home.
Now I'm trying to find the energy to pack something else before he gets home sometime soon.