Hoof Blogs

Flossie's 117th Lesson

FLOSSIE'S 117th LESSON

It was a perfect day to be in the saddle this morning! A nice cool breeze permeated the
sunshine so it was neither too hot nor too cold and there was no humidity! It felt like an
early autumn day in Ohio.

I worked Flossie longer than I did the last two times I rode her, but not harder. I stayed
in the saddle for a full hour, just to get her used to that again. She did everything
smoothly, steadily, slowly, and perfectly. If anyone had been watching, they would not have
been able to see one single aid; she responded immediately to my slightest cue.

Someone had used a heavy metal drag on the track, but when they were finished, they left it
there. It's as wide as the track and too heavy to lift, so I had to ride Flossie around
it. Luckily there was enough room to do that. Wouldn't you know it was lying in the
track that runs closest to the road!

Flossie wouldn't go up to it at first, but when I got off to see if I could move it, she
walked right up to it in hand without my even having to ask her to. I mounted her while she
was standing next to it, and when I asked her to go she didn't give me any resistance.
She never balked again, either, and I even had her cantering past it.

We were so 'together' that I could place her feet exactly where I wanted them. We
did a bit of circling to wind down before walking her around the track at the end of the
lesson and there she was; good ol' Flossie, champing away at the bit the way she always
does. Circling is her thing and she does it well. Usually. (There are times when she
falls in and I have to move her away with my leg and lift the inside reign. This usually
happens when we don't circle for a long time, like this last time, just after the flu).

At the moment I'm enjoying the fresh air that's blowing in through the window as we
speak. The sky is a crystal clear blue and the sun glistens on each blade of grass it waves
in the breeze. I close my eyes and picture the ducklings swimming like little paddle-boats
in the dam in Flossie's paddock, as I saw them this morning. Sometimes the world is so
full of grace and goodness it makes my eyes water.

When I hung my riding clothes on the line to dry when I got home, I watched the wind have
its way with my jodhpurs and I imagined them against Flossie's sides as I had worn them
while riding today. Now they gallop in the wind, buffeting in rhythm with an invisible
steed.