Monday, September 5, 2011

Riding in the Rain

This morning when I went down to feed the sky was spectacular.





There were periodic claps of thunder in the distance and the dust had dimples from yesterday's rain drops.  Sedona who is afraid of thunder stayed glued to my leg while I mucked and fed.  Kersey didn't seem to notice the thunder or the periodic smattering of raindrops.

I rode Jackson immediately after chores, before breakfast.  It was about 70F with brief, light showers of rain - just enough to make more dust dimples - while I was grooming him.

We started out with a warm up on the bridle path.  Jackson didn't seem bothered in the least by the thunder and I know he doesn't mind the rain -- in the dead of winter, he stands outside in the freezing rain instead of inside his stall.  At one point, I shifted in the saddle and Jackson jumped forward.  My immediate reaction was to whoa -- and then I realized that I had inadvertently lightened my seat and he had correctly responded by going forward.  And then I felt horrible.  Instead of praising him for remembering the new aid, I stopped him.  Oops.

Back in the arena, it started to seriously rain.  We kept working anyway.  I focused on transitions and balance.  At one point while we were cantering, the sky let loose with a torrent.  We didn't stop.  I felt like a twelve year old running in the rain.  It was WONDERFUL.

I have the best horse ever.  We were cantering in the rain with thunder clapping and he never got silly.  Jackson rocks.

3 comments:

  1. Its raining here, again! Its supposed to be torrential tonight. I`m starting to turn green! All that rain, its making the moss grow!

    ReplyDelete
  2. What a perfect way to enjoy the rain. It must have felt good to both of you. Sweet Jackson.

    ReplyDelete
  3. We have the tail end of Irene hitting our shores, I'm convinced that's what brought the rain storm but no-one believes me.

    But how lovely your ride sounds even though you're going to have the bath the horse again!

    ReplyDelete

Thanks so much for commenting!