The Right Moment

This was a busy week at work. I spent a large part of it on the road.  We've also had lots of rain. The good news is that the snow is gone. The bad news is that everything squelches. But I'm not complaining. 

Today I had to go into the city. I texted my friend Cynthia and at the end I was picking her up on my way home so we could play with the ponies. There was rain on the way home but the sun came out when we got home. After a quick change we got the horses ready. Both Irish and Carmen were pretty mellow getting ready. I decided to put on her saddle and bridle. She looked at me as I put her tack on but didn't seem concerned. I used my thick pad and the fit seemed to be pretty good. 

My plan was to lunge her and play the rest by ear. We walked around and then lunged up and down the ring. She was very good. She did spook at the some stuff by the gate but it was no big deal and she settled down very quickly. By the end she was stretching out and blowing. I asked her to halt and then lowered the stirrups. She stood there looking at me. I brought her up to the mounting stool (the one Ed is building isn't done quite yet). She stood while I climbed up on the block. I shook the stirrups and leaned over. She stood there.

I realize that she's a trained horse and I am, perhaps, being too cautious but I've always had green horses to start so this is what I know. I led her back up and stood in the stirrups.

 I swung my leg over and I was on. 

Finally.

On my horse. 

She stood there with her ears swivelled back. I patted her and asked her to walk forward. We walked up and down the ring, doing circles and changes of direction. She was perfect. Cynthia, who was riding Irish, looked at me and said- 

'you know that you are grinning like a Cheshire Cat don't you?"

 I asked for a few walk-halts and decided that that was a good point to stop. I hopped off and gave her a big pat. 

 She looked at me: "that was it?"

We walked down to the ring for a well earned supper. It was the right moment to get on and it was the right moment to get off. 

And it was great way to start.