okay so i forgot to write anything on monday but whatever
Today, I rode Rez again. First I went out in the pasture to get him, brought him back, and had to groom/tack up outside since the farrier was inside and using the crossties.
I couldn't find a bridle to use on Rez, so that was fun... since there's a horse camp going on at the barn right now, most of the lesson horses whose bridles fit Rez were being used (Diva and Bug), and one of the other girls in my lesson was riding Leo, whose bridle also fits Rez. So my friend had to swap bridles with me, since she normally uses her English bridle even though she rides Western, so that she doesn't have to worry about split reins and all. Also, if you're wondering why Rez doesn't have his own bridle, he technically does, but it's a Western bridle with split reins and... yeah, I don't really do split reins.
I walked Rez along the rail a bit, then did some rollbacks at a walk, then a trot, in the middle, then some circles at a trot, and then I cantered him on some circles to finish warming him up.
We did an obstacle course today. Weave through four poles at a walk, trot to a barrel, pick up the cone on it, place it on the other barrel, then canter down the long side of the arena, go back to a walk and go over the bridge.
Rez gets excited around barrels, so that was... interesting. He kinda started going faster and all, but other than that he was mostly fine. Oh, but he just went a little crazy outside. Totally normal. Not really.
So, afterwards, the three of us went outside to walk around on the grass a bit, maybe play with the bridge and teeter-totter a little.
So... um... Rez kinda... freaked out... and i have no clue why.
Everything was going fine, then all of a sudden Rez was breaking into a nervous little jog, turning around towards the barn. I was trying to keep my reins loose and stay relaxed and all, but I was kinda finding it hard to focus on when to stay loose and let him calm down a bit, and when to do a one-rein stop to keep him from galloping off into the sunset with me (please note that I'm exaggerating a bit with the whole 'galloping off into the sunset'. it wasn't quite that bad. though he WAS trying to canter into the fence... which was a bit strange, but anyways-)
Eventually, after many failed attempts to both calm him down and get him to actually walk through the field, I dismounted and led him. The grassy area in front of the barn isn't that big, but it's fairly tiring to walk since it's a hill and all, and so... yeah, i'm tired. I walked Rez around that area at least twice, and since he's Rez and he's a pony and he's stubborn... he refused to move at first. Took me about two or so minutes to get him actually walking after I dismounted, then he kept on stopping and being annoying. Still gotta love him, though.
So yeah... that was today.
