He was NOT in a good mood when I got to the barn. Maybe he was pissed because I stood outside his stall ignoring him while I played with the new barn kittie. Maybe it was because it was 55 degrees today and he wore his heavy-weight blanket all day long....which may also explain why he was SHEDDING like mad, but he wasn't sweaty.
I took him out to lunge him and he was an absolute jack ass. I'm talking rude, jerky, disrespectful to the max. Bucking, switching, refusing, snorting, jerking away, coming in too close, backing away, you name it. They had poured new arena surface (mixture of old shavings and sand) and I don't know if he didn't like the way it smelled or what but he was just AWFUL. I was actually worried he wasn't going to calm down. (Remembering some of the horses of my past.) Once the rest of my lesson came in and mounted up he started to slowly quit the crap but I was by far the last one in the saddle. He was sweaty on his neck and ears. He was fine by then and he was fine the whole lesson, but holy cow was he an ass to start!
We did a simple pattern: lope right large circle, lope right smaller slower circle, change leads, lope left large circle, right smaller slower circle, stop. He did quite well, actually. I'm not sure what it is, but he was super slow when KAT was done with him after Christmas, then he sped up again, but this week he's been back to slower. I didn't attempt a flying change as we were instructed to do a simple, but I considered it. Better leave well enough alone, though and work on the basics. One of my club-mates (a very good rider) hadn't been to a lesson (with us, but she rides with the college team) since November and remarked at how different Jr. is. That was very nice to hear. I KNOW it, but it's nice to see that the difference is noticeable to more than just me and KAT. I'm anxious to get another taped ride but I've no one to tape at the moment. Hopefully soon.
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