Chilling in the Heat

The combination of pushing ourselves at the Robin Hahn clinic and the heat meant Kachina deserved a break from hard work. We've taken it easy for the last week, with some visits where I just hung out with her in the pasture and liberally applied fly spray and treats. Our only rides have been mostly walk.

This fly mask is now lost somewhere out there, thanks Kachina

Favorite ear view

On Friday I met up with a couple fellow boarders for a ride around the pasture. In case anyone is under the impression that Canada is always cold, it was 36C/97F during my ride on Friday! I decided to use my western tack because I'm signed up for a Western Dressage class at my next show and it's been quite a while since I last used it (also partly because I was running late and didn't have time to change, and it's easier to ride western with my dress pants). I was lazy and didn't swap out the bit on my western bridle (it had a loose ring double jointed snaffle on it, we usually ride in a single jointed eggbutt), and so Kachina had a few minutes where she tried to tell me that the different tack meant she didn't have to listen to me. I think the heat reduced her desire to fight because she acquiesced pretty quickly. We went on to have a lovely relaxed hour ride. Kachina was so chilled out that I actually had to encourage her forward to keep up with the other horses!  It was a great day to just enjoy the summer sun and the beauty of the prairies. The only thing that broke the peace and quiet was my saddle! My western saddle squeaks a lot more than my dressage one!

I really appreciate the wide open spaces we have in this part of the world

Mid-ride selfie!

Towards the end of the ride, I broke off from the other two and did some walk and trot circles with Kachina. I love how good Kachina is on the trail, but I want to make sure that she is listening to me as leader and realizes that she can give me some real work and be away from her buddies even though we aren't in an arena. It took a few of repetitions for her to steady her rhythm and not bounce between rushing and stopping, but I got the message across in the end without getting her too overheated (as soon as she gave me one 20m circle of decent trot I let her be done). I need to do some more rides in my western saddle because my position wasn't nearly as solid in it.

My trail buddies

Kachina looks like a black horse when the right parts of her are hidden
(also I envy the bareback skills of guy in foreground,
he sometimes goes months without using his saddle)

I hope Kachina enjoyed her mini-vacation because this week is another clinic and next week is our next show!