Sunday, April 22, 2012

Riding in Company

One of the things Pie is learning about at the new barn is riding in a crowded arena, with horses going every which way.  Yesterday, being Saturday, the arena was pretty crowded, with some lessons and some other riders - probably 4 or 5 other horses in a pretty small space.  There was one girl whose steering was, shall we say, a bit imperfect.  There was a girl riding one of the minis bareback - his name is Piranha(!).  But people were pretty good about calling where they were going.

Pie coped very well with all the commotion.  Having horses come up next to him and pass him on the rail, or coming in the opposite direction and passing him on the inside, made him a bit nervous - I think it was being stuck between the other horse and the arena wall that worried him - but we kept right on working and he was noticeably less worried by the end of our session.  And I'm particularly pleased with how well he did cantering at the same time as other horses were cantering and/or trotting behind or in front of him - he just cantered along normally - no excitement at all!

Good Pie!

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