I was going to write about home, but I'll just give a quick rundown and then get to the hopefully more entertaining part.
My family and friends are still completely awesome. Obviously. They still love me even if they only get to see me every couple of years. I love the fact that I come from a horse family and have SO much support behind me!
I thought that people were being overdramatic when they told me how bad Les Bois (the track) has gotten. They said that the racing secretary/office was a pain in the ass, that the track surface is horrible, that the vets aren't very good, and that it basically just isn't a fun place to be anymore. They weren't totally wrong (one vet didn't seem all that bad), It certainly isn't as pleasant as it used to be. On a good note, I had heeded their warnings enough that I didn't have too many high expectations, so at least I wasn't disappointed much. The 105-110 temps that happened the entire time I was there were absolutely miserable. THAT really sucked! I still maintain that Les Bois is one of the best tracks to watch races at and it could still be a fun place to run horses. It just doesn't seem to be right now. There are some really lovely people that I adore there and it was worth the headaches just to get to see them again. The best part is that being there made me appreciate the tracks we are normally at all that much more. Except for The Downs at Hellbuquerque, it takes the cake for shitty tracks to be at.
Anyway....
Other than seeing my family and friends, the best part was getting to take a lesson with my mom's trainer. She is a very sweet person and let me ride her horse, Sasha. Sasha is showing 4th level right now, schooling higher levels.
I was totally exhausted and cooking to death (hot weather is not something I do well with), but I sure wasn't going to miss the opportunity to ride a horse like Sasha! I messed up A LOT, but I had a hell of a lot of fun in the process.
Anyway, here's how my thinking works when I'm completely exhausted while riding a more advanced horse than I'm used to. *I apologize in advance to those of you that don't like videos. I did edit them down to spare you from the several times I had to go around the arena to get something at least half way right. No need to thank me.
"A double? When was the last time I rode in a double? Like eight years ago?"
"Oh wow! I am being a spaz with these reins."
"THIS MARE IS FREAKING AWESOME!"
"Do I need to loosen up on the curb? Agh! Poor girl! I'm sorry, so sorry!"
"I totally want to steal this horse. Do they still hang people for that in Idaho? Eh, it'd probably still be worth....oh crap! What did C just tell me to do?"
"Did she say to half pass or circle? I'll just do a bit of both so that I'm covered either way."
"Oh yeah, she knows pirouettes. I can probably stop riding her like she doesn't now."
"I wish I weren't deaf, because I'm pretty sure I totally just butchered whatever C was trying to tell me to do. Yeah, no. I'm positive I did."
"Why in the hell am I struggling so much with these reins! Ah crap! That was the curb not the snaffle. Damn it!"
"This horse is freaking awesome!"
"I hope I can get Indy to at least this point one day. This is so much fun! Oops! I almost ran over Mom. Again."
"Holy Hell! It's HOT!!!"
"I should probably just try to stay out of her way on the changes. Obviously she is much better than I am at them."
"Eh, circle/oval. They're basically the same thing. Close enough."
"When was the last time I schooled passage? Let's see, I schooled piaffe like over ten years ago...never passage though. I don't think. What are the aids again? I know that I've read about them at some point."
"I have to bounce more in my seat?! I've been working my entire life to not bounce!"
"I hope that my mom got that on video. You know, just in case it never happens again."
So, there's the general just of it. C has done a very good job with Sasha, it was obvious that she had been built up from a solid foundation, there were no holes. C is also very, very patient because I was having a hard time hearing and focusing. After being able to hear what she said in the video, I understand a lot more what she wanted (it took me five minutes to figure out that C was asking me to try for passage). Hopefully, I get to ride Sasha, or any horse, with C again because I really enjoyed the lesson. Preferably when I'm not delirious from hellish temperatures and long trips.
