So you ride yourselves over the fields

Here is the cutest Sovey boy after our bareback ride yesterday afternoon.  Yes, he is back in his bitless bridle in this photo.  He is doing fine again.

Pie and I had a fabulous ride on Tuesday evening. This was my first evening ride since last year so he was nervous in the cross-ties trying to convey to me that I had mixed up the routine.  With Pie, I just have to proceed calmly and tell him that I know what I am doing. With his first balk and worry as we headed out, I pushed him forward with no ambivalence in my mind and that was all it took.  He trusted me the entire ride.  I need to trust myself and push him forward more when he thinks the only way out is up. And, as many of you kindly suggested, also circling him if he is doing the half-rear and absolutely won't go forward.  I think he will go forward if I mean it. He just senses my hesitation to push him forward. 

Kate, over at A Year With Horses, had a great post about her new Drifter boy and his baby habits called Drifter Acts Like a Baby.  This post really hit home with me because it described my Pie to a T.  Pie is willing until he is done or bored or onto the next thing and then he wants to be the boss like a spoiled child.  It was easy in the beginning because everything at our farm was new to him, but now he knows the routine and the farm and he wants to cooperate only so long.  My daily work involves trying to get him to give even when he is done.

Pie is the youngest of our three horses in actual age.  He is still five and will turn six on May 7th of this year.  Foggy turned six on January 22nd, but Foggy is the real baby.  This is a different kind of "baby" than the one I was just describing above or Kate is describing in her post.  Foggy's actions and view of everything reminds me of what it would be like to have a foal on the farm.  I know he raced and has seen way more of the "world" than Pie, who never raced, but Foggy is "coltish" in his daily play.  I really like that about him, but it might be a crazy ride when I finally climb on!  

The cutest thing about Foggy is the hair that flows out of the inside of his ears.  He looks like a long-haired bunny rabbit.  Because of his constant movement, I had a difficult time trying to photograph his cute ears.

These shots are from Tuesday evening.

He just won't stand still long enough for me to show both ears at the same time.  The tufts are adorable!  Here is a photo from last November when Brian and I went to see him at the track.  

He was calmer that day than he is with us.  He is not hyper here; the only way I can describe it is - exuberant!  He used to come out of his stall very slowly and walk calmly.  Now, he comes out excited to see the day and the other horses.  I know that I am partly to blame.  I am always so excited to see him in the morning and I can't contain my enthusiasm.  That is the worst thing about being around horses for me.  I get the best results when I act "bored" - like a mutt, as I say.  I am SO NOT bored when I am with horses!  Today, I acted bored and depressed when I brought Foggy out and he walked out quietly.  Oh, it is so difficult to be calm when you have such adorable cutie pies around you at every turn!!!