I rode Sabumi Friday and Saturday! He was very good. I used the new girth which is really nice and the new full cheek snaffle. I was a little, um, exuberant about riding him again and decided to go straight for a ride along the highway. Probably not a good idea. It was windy, he was fresh, and there was lots of traffic. He actually did very well, but he seemed afraid. He was overwhelmed and very antsy. The scariest part for me was that we were on the high side of the ditch along the highway and at one point Sabumi turned in a half cirlce and ended up facing uphill, unsure of what to do he started to back up. I looked back and saw water in the ditch and had a horrible vision of us backing up, hitting the water, and flipping over towards the road. Needless to say, we headed back. Although, my stubbern self decided it would be best to walk towards the farm, turn around and walk past the 'scary area', and THEN head home for good. All went well and we ended on a good note onthe highway. After we got back to the farm, we walked along the fenceline and the pasture horses galloped up to see up. Every horse on the property was running around their pen and screaming. Sabumi was pretty excited about that and as soon as he calmed down I got off and walked him be hand to the grassy open area. Once out there, John held my stirrup again and I got back on. We worked on walking, woahing, turning, and being generally wonderful. We were all much calmer and we ended on a really good note. Phew!
Saturday we went out to ride again. As I was grooming, John was cleaning out the paddock. At one point John kicked the shed really lightly and Sabumi spooked. He went to the end of his lead rope, felt resistance at the end and kept pulling. He pulled the rope all the way through his blocker tie ring and ended up on his rump about 15 feet back from where he started. I proceeded to catch him, and walk him in circles while John banged on the shed a bunch. Sabumi did much better but was still jumpy. So, that is something to work on! We saddled up and rode out to the grassy open area again. We worked on walking squares and straight lines. I really think the new bit is helping him understand the direct rein contact from my hand to his bit. We only rode for about 10 minutes, but it was really good. I have a really great book that I am going to start doing exercises out of just as soon as John gets home. Oh, did I forget to mention that John is gone again? This time only until Wednesday. Then he leaves again Sunday and will be gone until the next Friday. After this, his trips will be over except for a few days that he will be working in Kelleyville, OK which is not too far away, I think!
US Nationals has been awesome! We went Saturday, Monday, and Yesterday! I had so much fun! I don't remember what all I have blogged about so far. All of the classes were really good. I was very impressed with all of the horses I saw. My favorites were a yearling filly in a halter class named French Kisses, a mare who won an amatuar Park class named I'm A Believer, and yeah... thats mostly it. I got to see a few famous studs like Vegaz and Mandalay Bey. I took a few videos while we were there. There is a costume class video and a park class video I think. The park class victory lap is nutty. The reserve champ fell off!!! Of course, I didn't capture the moment, but her horse was coming towards us, spooked and bolted the other direction and the girl just came down over his shoulder! After that mishap you can see National Champion Im A Believer in all of her glory!
Here is the victory lap of the Costume class. I thought I got the whole class on video, but I guess not!
Here is the first part of the purebred Park class. Someone threw a shoe and I quit filming at the break. Each rider is allowed a 5 minute break, starting from when the farrier touches the horse.
Here is the top 10 of the Park class, the winner was my original favorite, I'm a Believer.
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