Different Arena and Flash Joins the Fun!

Another fun day for all of us! We headed to a small town arena, and luckily it was not locked. There was some grass and weeds in it and nobody had been in it for a while. There were bleechers, and an announcers stand. Some guys were working on tractors and drove them back and forth, another guy drove a Gator by, the train came by (I love trains!), and this cute chocolate lab came over and was running all over the arena with us! That dog cracked me up - I think he belonged with the tractor guys. Tripp didn't pay any attention to that dog - perfect!

Cantering with Tripp today was the same....butt in the air then a nice canter. I have to tell ya, I could not help but laugh! It didn't matter if I smacked his butt to get him moving, or if I slapped my leg - that butt was going in the air first. When he would do that I would try to keep him moving. At times it was WORK! I think he is a tad lazy. :-) We finally got a few good canters out of him without the butt hop. Judy was talking about how smooth Bob's canter was - well, Tripp's canter comes with lots of turbulence! Ha ha! It just is not near as smooth as what it looks. It will come...he is still a youngster trying to figure out how to carry a rider. This is very new to him and it will come like other things.

Here is Tucker and Flash cantering....the right side stirrup ended up breaking part way thru the morning, but everyone continued to ride and have fun!



Madison and I going on our make believe trail ride....



Tori and I riding around with the dog chasing us. The other kids are up in the announcers stand making all kinds of noise....they were yelling and hitting the tin...they did good!



I walked and trotted Tripp around some barrels...he was nosey and stuck his head in a couple of them...



Tucker and I going on our make believe trail ride...



Tori was trotting on Tripp and this shot makes it look like she was running barrels....



Mug shot of Tripp right after Tucker got on him....



At one point Tucker was riding Flash to the other end of the arena and Tori wanted to trot again. I had been running in front of them, and I was just plain old tired! I told her to tell him to trot and kick him, and see if he would follow Flash. Not only did he follow Flash, he broke into a very nice canter, which was a first for Tori! Of course nobody was on camera duty at that point, so I had to do some begging to get her to try it again. :-) They did it, and she was so excited! So was I! He did not butt hop! Then we got Tucker to do it too....he could not have his little sister do something more cool than him! Ha ha! I hope to have some video up the next day or two.

My plan for the evening was to take Tripp back to the Conservation Area, but we got a phone call about some hay. Gotta get it while you can!

Tripp got a treat and was allowed to graze in the yard this evening. Most of the yard used to be fenced off as pasture, and years ago we took the fence down to make it yard. Now we let the horses in to eat. If I don't hurry up and get the yard mowed I am going to have to let them all out for a while! :-)



Another fun day gone by...the time sure is flying by!

Until later....Karen and Tripp