I think, like just about everyone else, I over-think things.  Like riding.  I get so focused on what the Kid could do that I'm not focused on what we are doing.

Here's a great example:

I took him on a little trail ride yesterday morning.  I don't normally trot on the dirt roads because there's a random sprinkling of clamshells (which will cut the fuck out of anything) and of bricks and it is bordered by barbwire.  So, when we get to the "meadow", I'll ask him to trot.  Yesterday, we went back and forth on the meadow, trotting.  And I caught a little video.  Then we went back up the dirt road and back and forth, with little bits of trotting where it was wider and safer.  We went up to the actual road and down the fenceline, where we encountered deadly garbage bags.  I went to grab my phone to shoot video of his retardation, only to realize that it wasn't in the holster.

And then a truck drove down the dirt road.

And then I panicked.

I pushed Archie into a beautiful forward trot down the scary parts of the dirt road.  He gave me the hairy eyeball a couple of times, but kept going like a champ.  Afterwards, it made me think of pushing towards jumps.  Except we were pushing towards some urgent and without the potential for a crash.  But the thought has been planted - I need to ride my horse towards a goal, rather than just ride him.

I found my phone at the very end of the dirt road, where it meets with the rooster house.  I hoped down, got it while the guy in the truck was turning around.  He stopped to tell me that he tried to straddle the phone, as he figured I would be coming back for it.  And then I tried to mount with a broken tree limb that ended up just flopping around under my weight.

So proud of my horse.