Tally-Ho....

You know how a lot of us have either blogged about, or commented on, the power of positive thinking? Well today my friends, I should have taken my own advice! Me, Amber, Martha, and a very nice girl (she is only 24, so I can call her a girl, and besides,"nice lady" sounds so formal!), planned on fitting a trail ride into our busy schedules, and I distinctly remember making the comment to Amber, that Bo would most likely be a monster today because we would be riding with a new horse. For whatever reason, Bo has always been better either by himself, or with horses that he is familiar with, and he doesn't really act that naughty, he just charges ahead, wants to be in the front, and prances/jigs/piaffes most of the ride. It honestly doesn't bother me, because I like to have a horse with spunk, but sometimes, like when we are on a steep trail with a sharp drop-off to one side, it would be nice if he could just keep his mind out of wherever it flits off to, and relax. The funny thing about Bo too, is that he is not the lead gelding in the pasture, but he definitely wants to be on the trail. Most of the horses I have ridden, tend to act similar when riding, in regards to their position in the herd, as they do back at home. Not Bo Bo!! So...to continue on with my story....when I got to Amber's house, Bo did his usual whinny, and came to the gate so I could halter him. I then went to get Waska (Amber wasn't home at the time, so I tacked the boys up), and threw the lead rope up on Bo's back, assuming that he would follow us. Oh no. Bo proceeded to calmly walk to the back of the pasture (the area known as the back forty), and stood there. In the trees. Staring at me like "Hate to break it to you Mel, but I really don't want to go for a ride. Hmmm....I kind of felt sorry for the poor, old guy.... Of course, I am already thinking to myself that Bo is not in the mood for a ride (which is really unusual), and that I am probably in for either a poky ride (why I would think that, I'll never know, because old Bo Bo can keep up with the best of them!), or a naughty ride.Well... (no surprise here, because I was thinking rather negatively!)Bo was a jigging, piaffing, totally beautiful, animated, and collected gelding for most of the ride. He pretty much behaved in a manner that gives people the impression that Arabs are dingnuts! Again, I didn't necessarily mind, because I secretly pretended that we were doing Grand Prix Dressage...teeheehee!Another little piece of trivia about Bo Bo, is that for whatever reason, and I initially thought "poor eyesight," until Amber told me that he has always been this way, he speeds up and gets somewhat panicky when we are riding in deep, dark, and small trails. He must just be claustrophobic??? (The picture below was not taken on one of those trails, it was obviously taken on a nice, open one!)You see the little strap of leather that connects the two sides of Bo's breast collar? Well it was my anchor for a lot of the ride, because we were in deep, dark, woods, on little trails, that went uphill, and did I mention that Bo likes to trot or collectedly canter up hills...especially when he is angry at the world, and having a panic attack???? I would like to interject here and say that even though I make Bo sound like a psychotic, scrambling, fool, he really isn't, and I have never felt like I have lost control of him, nor did Amber when she used to ride him. If I did, trust me, I would not ride him!

The funny thing about this ride, and I am sure that it was all of that negative energy that I had been sending out, was that Bo never tired. He acted like he was spring chicken! For three hours we played Dressage...I mean rode...along lots of small, cramped, bridle paths, and Bo made sure that I earned my ride today...lol!!!!

Oh, and just so you know, Bo did not get his way the whole time. Sometimes he had to be in the back, and as you can tell, he was not happy about it!

Tomorrow we are off to the Trial Challenge down in Ethel, so I should have some fun pics from that later on. Have a happy Friday!