Hello again Dear Humans. I have had all sorts of adventures since I last spoke with you. I went with my human Ma Leueen to a horse show. We did rather well. One of the horse show days I thought I knew best how to do the test but Ma Leueen was really very annoyed and told me , in no uncertain terms, that I had to wait for her instructions. Humans! No pleasing them sometimes. But the next day I did as I was told and we won the class ,so I guess that was ok. I was very proud to have a blue ribbon to hang on my stall when we got home. Everyone noticed it. Oh yes!
Then Ma Leueen and I started working on some of the moves from the Inter 1. Coach Lou had said we were going to do that at the next show. I was really looking forward to that test. It has two tempis in it. Seven of them! WooHoo! I can ace the two’s. Step! Change! Step! Change! Step! Change! Seven times. There is some other stuff I’m good at as well like the full pirouettes. Yup! Those are the full circle and I can do a really good job of those; I sit and I turn and sit and turn. Impressive. But they are very hard work you know!
But….and it is a big but. We are not going to the show because I got sick. I got what the humans call a “bug”. I felt bad for a couple of days. Vets came and poked me with needles and gave me some medicine. Then I felt better. Ma Leueen was pretty stressed about it. She was way more stressed than I was. I knew I felt bad but I also knew it was not a big deal. But Ma Leueen has had some bad luck with horses she had before me ,so she was pretty worried. But as soon as she saw me scarfing down my food again she knew it was going to be ok.
So ,as soon as I was better, Ma Leueen started to ride me again. First of all, just some walking hacks and then we moved back into work with Coach Lou. Then last Friday ,one of Ma Leueen’s friends gave her a ride on her mare Dede. I know Dede as we chat out in the paddock. She’s pretty cool. She told me about what it was like having Ma Leueen ride her. She said it was fun and that they did the passage and piaffe. “You’ll have to learn how to do those,” she told me. Oh boy! I have already done a bit of work on the piaffe and passage. The piaffe is just so tricky, so difficult. The passage is easier but I lose the rhythm sometimes. Dede told me she is really good at the passage. She’s not one of those mares who thinks she is the greatest thing since rolled oats so she probably is really good at it.
Well sure enough…. Monday lesson and Coach Lou and Ma Leueen agree that we should start to work on……yup…you got it …piaffe and passage. Humans call it the Pi Pa. So, that is what we did. I can recognize the aids for the piaffe as soon as Ma Leueen does them. I can feel it on my sides and I just start trying to do the steps. But it is hard to co-ordinate my feet and legs. Up down. Diagonal pairs. Up down. Diagonal pairs. Oh boy! We also worked on the passage and sometimes I got that really well. Trot. Slow. Legs. Up. Trot. Slow. Legs . Up. Floating. Floating. Ah! Lost it. Trot. Slow. Legs . Up. Coach Lou was helping. He would come along beside me and tap me with a whip on my bum. Not hard mind you, just a little tap. That helped me to get the rhythm. I’m getting it. I am. I will just have to keep working on it. Maybe I can visualize it when I’m resting in the barn in the evening.
What do you mean horses don’t visualize? We do too! You humans are not the only ones with brains you know. You wait. In my next blog post I’ll let you know how it’s going. I may be ready for the Grand Prix by then!
Take care of yourselves, Dear Humans, until next time!
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