Fun in the fields!

I promise that one of these days I will actually write a post that isn't just about Lex. I know there's another half of this blog, and I have some ideas queued up, but they might have to wait for a rainy day. Right now I'm too busy thinking about how my horse is the coolest horse (except your darling horse, of course).

The cutest nose ever.

Today we rode IN THE FIELD with OTHER HORSES like GROWN UPS! I am so proud of this pretty lady. Barn Mates J and S were willing to let me bounce her off their big draft horses while we wandered around. Honestly, she didn't bounce much (though I think they helped her keep walking when she otherwise would have wanted to stop as we walked away from the herd). She's super fussy with her head at the walk. I'm looking forward to our lesson on Friday to see if Sharon has any tips for us on that, but for now I'm not really sweating it. She's a green bean.

But when we trot, she is magical. She doesn't fuss at all, she just gets to work. She'll even stretch a little, and she really pushes herself forward. I'm not taking up a lot of contact at this point, because I just want her to figure things out. But she was outstanding trotting around the field today like a big girl. We didn't go too far away from where the action was, but she wasn't worried about what the other horses and riders were doing. We even trotted over some poles, which I think she enjoyed. And when I wanted to walk again, she was happy to, and was definitely quieter.

The cutest thing, though, was when I turned her out.  She's always polite about me taking the halter off, but today she just stood next to me and licked her lips. I started walking toward the herd, figuring she'd eventually wander off, but she just walked with me - I think they call this join-up, right? But I haven't worked on this in the round pen or anything. She's just a smarty! Anyway, we got to the herd, and I gave her a kiss on the nose and turned to walk back, and she walked all the way back up with me! So I walked her back out, patted her on the butt, found her a pile of Spanish moss to eat, and left again. This time she looked up when I was all the way back to the gate and winnied. SO. CUTE.

Perfect Mare.

I also got to spend some time with Duchess today. She's still laid up with her cut leg, but the barn owner said she should be able to come back to the pasture soon. I hosed her leg, let her hand graze, and groomed her for a long time. She definitely loved the attention. I can't wait until she is rideable again! I wish I could bubble wrap her.

Not a very flattering picture of the old girl, but she really is lovely.

Overall, a fabulous day with my OTTB mares. I'm a happy kid.