My lesson today

My flat/pole lesson:

When I pulled up to the barn today I saw my trainer, Cindy! She was taking horses out to turn out. (*Turn out is when the horses are safely in outdoor, fenced-in paddocks where they can play around.) When I walked into the barn with Cindy I saw Coco in his stall- so very happy to see me! I took him out of his stall and put him in the cross ties. (*Cross ties are ropes or straps that are attached to the barn and they hook on to either side of your horse’s halter. This keeps your horse safe and secure, and you don’t have to worry about your horse bolting away from you!)

He loves to roll around in his stall, so we always begin with a good brushing. My trainer said to brush Coco harder like the grooms do at the shows. I did try, but he got scared! Poor Coco. So I ended up brushing him the way I normally do. (*Horse brushing- now that’s for a whole other post!)

I went into the tack room and I saw rice crispy treats. Yum. Love those, right? I grabbed my saddle and took it back to where Coco was still standing in the cross-ties, put my Lake Forest Farms (LFF) saddle pad on him and oh! Coco looks so cute with it on. I got my riding boots on, put on my helmet, and I’m finally ready to ride! Well, almost. Then I got Coco’s bridle out of the tack room (and I may have grabbed another rice crispy treat), put Coco’s bridle on, and we were ready.

We went to the mounting block and I got on. He was so excited walking down to the arena! It’s been so muddy during our California rainy season, so a lot less time for riding lately. Today, I had a flat/pole lesson but I had to try it with no-stirrups, for stronger legs when riding! The 2 poles were set in the arena on the ground, one on one side of the arena, and the other on the other side, and I had to trot through them, doing a serpentine with stirrups, then without stirrups, then I cantered with stirrups, and then without. A normal pony stride is a 10 foot stride, but I had to get Coco collected in a 4 foot stride, to maintain control and speed.

I tried it LOTS of times and finally I got it perfectly. Cindy teaches a lot about the striding and it made so much sense! I get it. After my lesson, Coco and I went on an easy walk around the barn to cool down and relax a bit. Then I started the entire untacking process when everything gets cleaned and put away. Then it’s more free time for Coco!

Once all of my tack was put away, Coco gets lots of treats, pets and hugs. And an extra apple. Big hugs to my Coco!