I really don’t know how to describe my weekend of rides. Disaster and perfection are probably the best words I can use. I mean, that’s an exaggeration. I was no where near perfection (let’s be real), but in comparison to what came before? It FELT that way. And the disaster? I stayed on and no one called 9-1-1 so that’s as close to success as I was going to get. Some rides are just like that when your horse is trying to bolt and keep his head between his front legs…

For whatever reason, I got on Saturday without lunging. I mean, Nay Nay didn’t feel up. In fact, he felt quiet enough. Did he have time off? Yes. But he’s had time off before. So I got on and life was fine. I mean, he didn’t stand still (first sign that something wasn’t right), but we just walked. It was fine. Fine. Fine. And we walked. And trotted. And did some poles. Pretty? Not exactly. But FINE. There were signs that it wasn’t going to be a perfect ride, but there was no spooking or anything.

We were joined in the ring by another horse (who was big and quiet) and Nay Nay pretty much laughed at me and said, “things are not fine.” I decided to trot again and instead of a trot forward, I got a launch and a snort, but we did trot. It was less pretty. But we survived. And Walked.

And there was no more trotting. Seriously. Next time I tried to trot? We cantered. So I said fine. Until I realized I had no power steering. None. Or brakes. Those weren’t there. But, whatever, we cut corners and I just let him canter. I don’t like not being able to steer. It’s more terrifying than not having brakes. I mean, Nay Nay tends not to be that fast even when he bolts… So eventually he was done snort canter galloping to the left and we walked.

And I decided to do the unthinkable. Canter to the right. I mentioned we weren’t steering very well, right? So I still had the draw reins on (thank god). And some idiot decided that my right leg did not exist and we were going to cut off the entire corner of the arena (I noped that). So I nailed him with my inside leg because WTF. And that was not appreciated. Nay said, “I’m the boss.” But, he got out to the rail and our canter was nice. And then… suddenly we were galloping with no brakes. See, we made it down the first long side, around the corner (I still could steer), and then bolted down the other long side when he got his damn head between his legs and tried to hop around (except he doesn’t actually know how to buck with a rider on his back). I managed to stay on and better yet, not hop off immediately and toss him on the lunge line.

I cantered a few more times to the left, mostly in that corner of death working on keeping him from bolting and keeping his head up. We got better-ish, but it wasn’t fun. We ended with a left lead canter which was nice except he spooked when someone stood up on the deck. He wasn’t spooky. He was just in a freaking mood. I kept him cantering and ended. Sometimes you just have to call it a win.

Sunday? I swapped his bit for the 2 ring elevator (we rode with it upside down because he prefers it that way, but I’m going to make him with the correct ring on top lol) and he was a saint. Last time we rode in the elevator? He was miserable. This time? I’ve never seen him happier. I rode on a loose rein, took a feel when I needed to, but otherwise? He was jolly and happy. We had the most lovely ride, gorgeous canters on both leads, and even popped over a couple fences — I let him canter into our final jump and he maintained the most even pace.

So yeah. I give up. Horses. They keep up on our toes.