After riding Cadence and having a quick visit with her old owner (who'd dropped in to say hello & check on how her recovery is going) I nipped home for lunch and then headed out to ride the ex reining mare. First off, I can see why she failed as a reining horse. She's nicely built, kind, and a sweetheart... but man is she lazy.
The ride itself went well. We free lunged her first since she hasn't been ridden in almost two weeks, and then I got to enjoy the pleasures of lifting a western saddle onto a 16 hand horse. Fuuun. Miss L has spectacular stop-on-a-dime breaks, but her gas pedal's a little sticky. After walking around & finding her whoa and go buttons... and her reverse gear... we meandered off into a jog. She was as comfy as a couch, but I had to keep an eye on the speedometer or we'd quickly slip back to 0. Her steering is lovely, though she likes to push through her right shoulder when tracking right. Nothing brutal, but its there. It's even more noticeable in the canter. Her lope is lovely. Like I could go all day lovely, but again- slow. Lots of revving to make the engine go.
I'm going to try to ride her twice a week, more if possible. It'll probably work out to Tuesdays and Saturdays, and maybe the odd Friday or Sunday thrown in. Our first goal is to fix the issues with the gas line and get that engine going. After that, we'll do some collection and if all goes well I'd love to take a lesson on her just for fun. My reining training is nill, so this should be exciting!
Lol, that sounds like Jack.
ReplyDeleteLovely gaits, very smooth but LAZY! He's suppper slow, but he's getting better with moving off quickly.
I would love to ride a reining horse one day. I think it would be so much fun. Hope it works out well with you two.