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| Three and still growing, might I add! I've gotten a tad bum high again this week, and my stifle started locking again--a sure sign of some added height! |
Today was the first time I've been ridden with another horse in the ring. It's only the second or third time I've ever been near another horse while working in the arena. It was a big thing. I rode with this halflinger gelding who I see every night over the fence. But inside the same fence? That's a bit terrifying.
We started out having the barn manager get on first, and then Spode got on. Then Spode asked if I could follow behind. I started fighting to get closer to the pony and was getting a bit hot. Then we decided to stop following as Spode was losing more and more control. Instead, Spode wanted the pony to follow me. Well, that was even worse. I started backing up into the pony and trying to spin around. The next step was to try and face each other safely to let me relax. Then Spode got very mad because I took the reins and went at the pony with my teeth. The barn manager had to slap me on the nose to stop.
Oh dear. I struggled for a while. I bucked for the first time (just a little one, mum!), and then I had a mini rear. Then I went at the other horse with my teeth yet again and got a bigger slap. This was followed by some more backing up and a slightly bigger rear.
Spode told me to get walking the whole time and eventually the bugs were annoying me so I moved on. Pony walked a bit too, but we went opposite directions and when we passed, we used half the ring. After about 20 minutes, I settled down again and was my usual good self. We got a bit closer to the pony but stayed back. Once Spode got off, the pony came and walked in a circle around us while I had to stand and be calm. I tried to back into him again once, but I was pretty much over it.
So you want the truth? I am the lowest on the pecking order and don't have an aggressive bone in my body. So the truth is that I was scared out of my stockings! I didn't know what Spode was going to let happen to me. What if she let the pony kick the poop out of me? What if he came at me and bit me? That's scary. This could be a horse fight for all I know. So I decided I'd attack him before he attacked me. I wasn't really being aggressive, I was just scared. No ears pinned here.
I'm not sure that's quite what Spode wanted me to do, but we all have to act our age occasionally. Luckily Spode and the barn manager are both calm cucumbers and we ended the ride positively. The only bad thing is that now I'm going to have to do it lots of times over again. Aw shucks. The goal is to have us trotting in the ring together.
Also, Spode should have known this would happen on our 13th ride. Plus, we both saw The Great Gatsby movie with my boy Leo. He can get pretty aggressive himself when he's scared. Of course, he only got scared at the thought of losing Daisy... but who's to say I wasn't scared that the pony would latch onto Spode, huh?
Yeah, okay. I probably won't win that argument.
In other news, I have juvenile herpes warts. Isn't that just fantastic. I look so attractive covered in warts. But at least my mild uveitis flare up is gone so I don't have both things going on at once. My cyclosporine implants make me more susceptible to viral infections. But warts are a small price to pay for something that is stopping me from going blind.
Spode is babysitting chinchillas and a dog for her friend this week, so I haven't been doing a whole lot of stuff. I predict a busy August ahead of us though! The last month before she heads off to school and I start my holidays. This week I've mostly been chilling. I had a bath.
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| I'm not complaining. It was a hot day! |
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| She was a little bit too into brushing out my tail though. Yes, I know it's beautiful. Let's move on. |
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| She was also pretty obsessed with my stockings, making sure they were absolutely gleaming. I went and got them stained again by the next day, just for her. |
Until later, old sports.
Jay.
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