And his name is Bold Archer.
Awesome weekend. Had a blast. Saw a friend for her birthday, had drinks, actually had diet coke and cheese. Woo! Asylum diet. Went and saw "Snow White and the Huntsman", which I actually enjoyed. Ran 4.5 miles in a horrible time and continued the Asylum workouts. Compared to Insanity? I love this shit. It's harder, but it's somehow easier because it's less repetitive and you have less time to think about how your heart is in the process of exploding.
So, the Monster?
I hadn't been asking Archie to canter much in the past six months. In January, he spent the month off due to his back being sore. In February, I had surgery. March and April? I think I was just being lazy, adjusting to life and all that. In May, I started amping up his workouts so that in late May, I felt comfortable asking him to start cantering.
I stay in two-point and I don't push him too far. And when he's good, we stop and walk and change directions. So what has my super-smart horse learned?
"If I canter, this bitch will stop pushing me to work."
It's been a process now of teaching him that I want him to continue forward and, while I love that he will pick up the canter, I don't want it if I don't ask for it and he has to keep going. He gets a little grumpy and I think he's bored about our workouts. I admit: I'm pretty fucking bored trotting in circles. The only "hill" (it's not a hill) is in the front pasture and I try it use it a lot to engage his back. There aren't a lot of trails or anything, just a dirt road that wraps around the property. He trips a lot on the tree roots and I'm not exactly sure how to fix that. More trot poles? Teach him to watch his feet? But I need to figure something out, so we can get out of this boring rut of trotting in circles and start utilizing that dirt road to get some distance.
I spent yesterday giving him a bath and making him purty. Cleaned his tiddly-winks and almost got kicked in the process. I have to give him props, though, because he isn't tied when I do all this crap and he still stands for it. He immediately rolled. :)
June's going to be a crazy month. This weekend, we have a five-hour tattoo appointment for my husband and me. Four hours of which are just for him. The following weekend, I've got that mud run. The next weekend, I work at the vet's office. And the last weekend? Mi madre is getting married.
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Thanks!