July 23 2008

Today the weather is just marvelous for riding.
78°-80° with a breeze from the SW at 10 mph gusting up to 20 mph.
22% Humidity.

No excuses.

I headed out at about 6:30 pm or a little after. Sinwaan seemed happy to see me, and eager to have his halter put on so he could go for a ride. A light grooming was all he needed and we were tacked up and riding off down the driveway.

The weather was great. All the wheat was gone except for a few stragglers on the far edge that the machines had missed. There were sprinklers on in the alfalfa field, and as one came around it hit a metal part of the spayer and made the shhhhhh shhhh shhh noise which sent Sinwaan up into the wheat field at a quick bolt. Good thing I had been paying attention and thinking about my seat just then, disaster averted!

Once we got past that little blip we had a nice jaunt up Elliot Rd. We had two trucks come past us headed the other direction but both were very courteous and slowed down as they passed. On the stretch past the homestead Sinwaan pulled his usual stop-and-go, or weave from one edge of the road to the other, but I kept him going and we worked through it.

I noticed something new this evening. On the railroad tracks were some grain cars, all waiting to be filled at the big silo at the end of Elliot. I thought about heading to the intersection but Sinwaan started acting a little goofy as we got next to the rail cars and I decided not to risk it. There were various grain trucks coming and going from the silo, some of them semi-trucks and I didn't need and accident. So we turned around and Sinwaan was only mildy displeased when I turned him left onto our dirt path.

The footing tonight was better than it has been, the light rain we got last week seems to have helped a great deal. I was bound and determined to make it to the junkyard this evening since we hadn't been able to the past two rides. Most of the stretch I kept Sinwaan to a trot, although the sun was setting and glaring directly into our eyes, I am sure that did not help things and Sinwaan acted a little jumpy, spooking at birds and the sound of a sprinkler the next field over.

Once there, I halted him and encouraged him to take a bite of the straggler wheat I could see along the edge. He happily obliged, but was eager to turn home again. Coming back I kept him to a trot, not wanting to repeat the bucking incident of last time. He wanted to go faster, but I made him mind. Once he was settled into a nice groove and listening to me, I told him to canter. He tried to take off but I got him to semi-collect and keep his pace nice and easy. Ahh, that's the ticket!

Pleased with this improvement, we turned back onto Elliot at a trot. I pulled him back down to a walk for a few paces to get his mind on me again. Then we trotted past the houses, and once the coast seemed clear of any boogie creatures I let him out. Zoom! He loves to run this stretch. He dodged around a little bit at the quail popping from the brush but overall did well. I pulled him back down to a trot and then asked for a walk and he was not obliging so I made him turn around and trot back up the road a couple of times before he got the message.

We crossed the tracks and I made him walk a bit more, stopping for some fresh alfalfa along the roadside. He appreciates the snack, I'm sure, but wants to be home even more. As long as he was acting fresh I put his mind to work, when he would settle in then I would let him speed up the pace. We had a nice ride. Only once did he hint at a buck, at the gallop on the last stretch for home. I was verbally warned him and that seemed to be all it took. I ruin all his fun. I am hoping our next ride out will be someplace new. I appreciate the roads I have locally to work him, but we need a change of scenery once in a while :-)