Sophomore Ride 9-28-13

So guess who I got for my 2nd Sophomore Ride.... Duke. AGAIN! Riding him outside is worse than riding inside. He was the same for grooming. Still likes to be a little stubborn with his feet. They were really packed in today. Having pads on his front feet made it easier. We mounted up and rode down to the Moore Arena. He tried to eat all the way down. Again he wouldn't stand still while mounting up. Duke will trot no problem. Only if he is following though. He doesn't lead. We warmed them up then dropped our reins. We trotted with no reins too. Duke is so hard to ride without reins. He listens to the leg ques OK but not great. Then we got to lope without reins. Well I didn't I was sitting there kicking the crap out of Duke trying to get his lazy butt to move. I was kicking and clicking nothing was working. Then we picked up the reins and did it again. I had the reins up to his ears almost giving him all his head and kicking him as hard as I could. Not even the slightest result. Just trotting. Lots and lots of trotting. Then we had to stand up in our stirrups while trotting. It helps us find the sweet spot in the saddle and improves our balance but it sucks. It takes a lot of effort on the legs and if you loose your balance and fall forward your cushion is going to be a nice saddle horn in the gut. After a while they let us lower ourselves back into the saddle. We then got into 4's and that wasn't any better. Our outside would speed up then Duke would slow down then he would speed up and they would slow down. We then tried to lope in 4's and I had a JI helping me and I got, for 3 precious short strides, Duke to lope. So short it doesn't even really count. It was a constant battle he was trying to bite everyone and refused to go the pace our 4 set. My instructors told me I did really well with him and that this never happens once you have spurs. My legs were so tired by the end I barley had the energy to kick him anymore. They are total Jello now. He tried to eat while I lead him to water and then he drank like a noisy slurping camel. I couldn't wait to hand him off to the next class. I am standing in a totally different part of line next time so that I won't get him 3 times in a row. The stubborn horses do test you and teach you a lot though. But it can be annoying. Loping without reins would have been so fun! At least I didn't have to worry about him taking off on me. My annual show ticket count is 13 right now, highest seller on my team! But S-1 is dead last in ticket sale totals so we have to pick it up this week.

Riding Duke with no reins

Duke and I at the end of the ride.