Three for One

Yesterday was another beauty in Deroche. I gave Tonka a cursory grooming, saddled him up and rode him at a walk in the pasture with Raven at liberty so that all three of us could get our workout for the day. Raven was stressed about the whole thing, but between bouts of bucking and farting and kicking and rearing she did manage to walk calmly alongside us for several 200+ foot stretches. This is my very first step towards ponying Raven off of Tonka, and he was absolutely fantastic. Raven's biggest problem was that she couldn't push him around with me on his back, and every single time she tried to dominate his movement he listened calmly to me, always trusting my judgment.

Beyond racing I doubt that Tonka has ever been more than a recreational trail horse, so we worked on straightness at the walk and bending a little through the corners. He kept his mind on his job and mostly ignored Raven's antics. My workout came from keeping my leg on Tonka, who rides like some of the warmbloods I used to know -- capable of huge movement, but not without huge input. Under normal circumstances I would have a dressage whip at the ready, but I didn't want to introduce that into the general chaos. No pictures from yesterday, but I was wearing exactly the same outfit as shown in the one above (taken last March, obviously before I had adjusted my right stirrup) if that gives you the idea. We'll do it again tomorrow to see whether Miss Thing can settle down faster than yesterday.