We Rode with FLAGS!

Wow so today left me feeling like I had been run over by a train and trampled on by some elephants. A new pitch black baby pony was born at Westernaires. The baby and mama were in the Red Arena when I got there. It was sooo cute and the baby was so tiny! So I got A.C. again for grooming! Great. So this time he was even worse than last time. He wouldn't even let me walk behind him at all. The first time I was close enough that when he did kick out at me he didn't get me hard. So I would go WAY out of the way to stay away from his butt to groom. So I wondered if something was up with him so I asked a wrangler. I was showing her what he did when he cow kicked to the side and got me in the inside back of my thigh. Hard. Sure enough now that I am home I have a big fist sized ugly bruise to show off! It kind  of resembles a horse hoof. Yay!!! So that is REALLY tender and hurts. I didn't really notice it during J1 though. They said A.C is generally just high strung like that. But for the ride we practiced mostly for Interclub and fine tuning some small details. A.C is bouncy! I could not find the sweet spot in the saddle at all so I ended up gripping with my knees more than my thighs. This then equals knees that are completely rubbed down to skin and blood. It stung. During the ride we worked on riding without reins and cuing with our body and legs. A.C does not slow down unless you touch the reins. So then they let us lope without reins. I was like OK here we go. I kicked him to the correct lead and put the reins on my saddle horn. We were flying! It was such an indescribable feeling. Then the horse in front of me darted to the middle. Now remember A.C is on RED TEAM and they go FAST! So he saw the opening and was like OK! So he took off into a full on flat out gallop. I wasn't even panicking! I just went with it and pulled back on the reins to stop. Only that didn't work. I grabbed towards his head with the right rein and pulled his head to my knee. He circled about twice and came to a stop. This all happened in about 10 seconds or less. I can't even tell you how fast my adrenaline was pumping. My legs were shaking so bad after because we had to stand up in our stirrups for like 5 minutes. It helps with foot position, leg strength, and balance. So after, I got my knees quickly patched to protect against my next ride. I was walking like a penguin. For White Star I got Chico #63. So guess what!? WE RODE WITH FLAGS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! OMG! I couldn't believe it was actually happening! So once we were all mounted up we made two lines in the middle and got handed our flags. Well even though Chico is in Red Division he decided he wanted nothing to do with the flag and ran to the back of the line. I tried putting him back where I wanted but he just did it again. So I was like fine. But you are getting a flag on you either way. So the practice flags in White Division are full sized and Red or White. So as I came up they gave me a teeny tiny little Red Flag that was about 1/2 to 1/4 the size of the other ones. Joy. It was so tiny it basically wasn't there. I didn't care though. I was riding with a flag!!!! Even if it was tiny. It feels so different. You have to push down a little. They also taught us that dropping your flag is a last resort. If you need too, pull up to clear it out of the flag boot, push it away from the horse, then let go. If you need two hands on the reins put the flag in the crook of your elbow, resting it on your shoulder and use your other hand. Chico was fine once the flag was on him. He did have one take off spaz moment while we were trying to lope in fours but it was controllable. Riding with flags is amazing! I hope I get to ride with a full one next time. Then we handed off our flags to the Flag Dads and set up for our drill. I rode 3-2. Our drill actually wasn't awful and I was 1 away from the outside of propeller. When I dismounted my sides felt like they were being squeezed by snakes because my core was so sore. Not riding for 4 weeks really throws you off. Then was diagramming. We took our final. I felt really good about it. We had to label, create notes, and fill in the heading for 5 diagrams, take a sequence test and do about 60 some questions. I felt really good about it. Also I was not drawn to ride in the Easter Parade so I will not be riding in that. I wore my green bandanna on my belt today. It will stay there now! I got 97 on horse ID! That is amazing! Overall it was a great but really exhausting day. Pictures below!

Chico

My Baby Flag LOL

Uncurling my Flag