I rode Bowie, a red and white paint. Not Frisbee; I think I need to catch you all up on things because sadly, I no longer ride Frisbee.

You see, his spookiness had progressed to the point in which he had become too dangerous for me. The final straw came when I was trotting him in a lesson and someone dropped something in the office next to the arena, and he shied violently sideways. He went sideways, I, rather like Wile E. Coyote, stayed put. Down I went. It wasn’t a bad fall, but the owner said, no more, he’s too dangerous.

Well, too dangerous for me. Another rider is working with him, and she said she might send him to a trainer for some extra tuition. Poor guy. He really needs consistent work, and with the weather being so crappy for so long he wasn’t getting that. Listen to me, complaining about rain in Texas. I know, I know, totally ungrateful. At least it appears that things are drying up now though.

So, my lesson on Bowie was really positive. For one thing, he’s bombproof, which I need right now. Also, as Kaylana pointed out, he is really out of shape because of the aforementioned lack of consistent work, so at the level I’m at — flat work only — he’s going to gently get back into condition. The benefit is that I know how to work him, since I have that experience, I just don’t have the recent practice. So it’s a win for both of us. He gets an experienced rider whose  head, at least, knows what to do, but he won’t be pushed too hard.

I don’t have the same instant connection that I had with Frisbee, but I like him a lot and you can tell he’s sweet.

The lesson itself was a lot of trotting and legwork. He doesn’t move into his corners and bend properly, which is the lack of conditioning, so I got a lot of practice on correct aids. He started to bend quite nicely in big circles and I could feel him loosen and his head went down into a very nice arc a few times, so he was getting it. Then we cantered a bit but I’m all disorganized. Still, though the canter depart was a bit messy, he did get it eventually. Or rather, we got it.

So there you have it — from a horse that was too much for me (and I still feel bummed about that, I don’t think I’ll get over it for a while, but I do understand it was the right thing to do) to a horse that is what I need right now. And I think I can do right by Mr. Bowie himself, by providing him the kind of rider he needs.

At that point the weather was beautiful: sunny, cool, and only slightly windy. When it was my turn to ride in the pen (which is 40 feet in diameter, so a decent size) I led him in and mounted and began to move him out at a walk.

Not five minutes later the weather turned. A HUGE gust of wind came down, the skies clouded over, and the temperature plummeted. A Texas norther had just blown in.

Well, shoot. Frisbee’s biggest fear is wind, because it blows stuff around, stuff that might LEAP OUT AT HIM AND EAT HIM ALIVE !!!! AGHHH!! So that sucked. And sure enough, a rag left hanging on the wash stalls fluttered and he leaped to the side.

But I was determined, so I kept him walking and trotting and doing circles and figure eights and serpentines (not easy in this pen) and so he had to think and pay attention to me instead of the wind. I was planning on at least making him work up a sweat, but decided that it was better to make sure that he was settled and calm under saddle so I rode for less than half an hour.

But boy I was attentive. I had to keep an eye on him plus the entire environment so I could anticipate a sideways leap, while at the same time insisting on his attention on me. (He does this crouch and swoop move that is pretty impressive.) So in a way, I was attuned to his way of thinking, in which everything is a potential threat. It was tiring, living on nerve endings that way, but also exhilarating. We tend to tune the world out, but I had to consciously tune in to everything.

All in all, it was a good ride. I am looking forward to getting back into the main ring and actually doing some real work on horseback. But this is Texas, in winter, and you take what you can get.

I cleaned up my office last week after AggieCon with the expectation that I would get some writing done this week. That didn’t happen for a variety of reasons (mostly because the story work right now is going on in my head, not on the page, and also because of various family obligations) and I had expected not to get any writing done this weekend either since I would be away. But yay! I have a weekend back, and that is also salving the pain of missing a con.

In addition, a kind reader asked for some more stories about Colar, especially about Colar in the US. Well, I can do that. So in the coming months expect some short pieces about Colar in North Salem, and adapting to his new life and possibilities as a typical teenager in America, as opposed to his life as heir to Terrick.

Being bummed about the con, I decided to spend some of my dealer room money on books here, rather than in Dallas. My son came with me and we had a great time picking out books. I got Good Omens, because I’m coming late to that party. Also picked up another copy of Dies the Fire, since I had loaned my first one out and don’t expect to get it back. Finally, I got a romance called Sliding Home by Kate Angell, which I read last night (romances are quick reads).

Well, I think I lost my capacity to enjoy romance. This had good points, but it was a stupid people plot (i.e., it hinged on people being stupid) and that irritated me. The baseball stuff was fun though and the characters were likable and personable and frankly that goes a long way. I don’t like head-hopping but in romance it seems to be tolerated. Note: a multi-viewpoint book (for example, Gordath Wood) is not the same as head-hopping, in which the author writes from different characters’ POV in the same paragraph. I find it jarring.

After discussions with JK Cheney on the subject of romance, I was looking for the final obstacle plot element that she said is in every romance. Basically this is the last step before the couple gets its Happy Ever After.  Sometimes this is called the big stupid misunderstanding, which I think I first ran across on Holly Lisle’s website. In Sliding Home, the last obstacle made  sense in context and no one behaved foolishly so hey, it was a win. But while I am a romantic at heart, I don’t know if I am that interested in romances any more unless there’s more to them than just the romance.

So now I am looking forward to Good Omens, and rereading Dies the Fire. And writing. And seeing my horse and demudding him.

Frisbee and me

I should have taken a before picture, because he was pretty slathered with mud, but I got most of it off of him. Then I let him graze for a while on the new grass and he was completely content to do so.

He made friends with Ben, who gave him a peppermint, which Frisbee really enjoyed. Ben was wondering if Frisbee would remember him the next time he came to visit, and I told him that horses could be surprising in that way and he just might.

I couldn’t ride today, even though as you can see it was a gorgeous day. Hopefully Tuesday will be as nice a day and I can get some riding time in before Aggiecon. (Speaking of which, preliminary programming is complete and it’s looking pretty good.)

Side note: I just finished 1,600 words today, so GWIII is really coming along!

Well, first the lesson was mine. When a 1,000 pound horse goes in one direction and you try to pull in the other, guess who wins? I’ve been icing my arm after hyperextending my elbow with that little escapade. This was because he went for some grass when I was bringing him out of his pasture. To ensure that didn’t happen again, I was quite firm with him afterwards.

As I was tacking up, everyone was telling me how spooky he’s been lately. Apparently he dumped a little kid in the round pen, so something is definitely up.  One of the other riders was saying she was concerned it was a vision thing, which I admit I was thinking it might be too. He’s about 14 or 15 years old, according to my revised understanding. It could be.

So I took him out in the ring and walked and trotted him, making sure he yield properly. The spooky parts of the ring that he hated, like the propane tank in the yard outside the ring, any of the corners, and the porch overlooking the ring, I made sure we stayed to the inside, all the while making sure that he didn’t get a chance to spook.

When it was clear that he was calm I took him in the corners, in front of the porch, and by the freaky frightening propane tank. And he did fine. He bent to my rein and was very supple.

We finished by going over cavaletti. I didn’t canter, because I wanted to make sure we ended on a good note.  So he got a half-hour workout, nothing too much, mostly mental for him.

And he did fine.

So while it might be that it’s his eyes, and it might be he’s just getting fearful in his old-ish age, I think it’s a matter more that he just needs the work.

We’ll see. Unfortunately, I probably won’t get a chance to ride this weekend because of the weather, but at least I got a bit of a workout in for him.