First, Rachel and I still went to the horse show to see what Maverick's competition would have been, and it was a small, but pretty good class. It was good to see that the actual showing is not complicated, but I realized that 99% of the work comes in the preparation. Getting Maverick really fit is job one. As he gets fitter, the more all the primping and preening for a show will pay off.
Then it occurred to me that after watching Wendy and Bingo ride the last time we were both at the barn, it was ridiculous that Wendy doesn't have her blue string (Level 2 Parelli graduate). So I told her since we couldn't show Mav on Sunday that we should use that time to tape her Level 2 freestyle audition. So that is exactly what we decided to do.
Yesterday afternoon, we tacked up Walker and Bingo and warmed them up. I played the yo-yo game with Walker at the canter, which was a lot of fun, then we hung out while Wendy and Bingo went through a couple of practice runs. They looked good together, so I had a good feeling that Sunday would go well. While we put all our tack and equipment away, we let Bingo and Walker graze together in the front pasture. The air was cool and there was a soft breeze coming from the gulf. After the sun went down, the sky was a beautiful combination of blues and soft pale oranges. This may be the best time of the year in Houston, before the heat returns in full fury.
Today, Wendy and I got to the barn at about 10 and got right to the task of putting out tack and setting up the arena. We thought that if we started early, we might get the arena to ourselves, and we got our wish. Wendy and I talked it through, she had a couple of small changes she wanted to make, like making the cones around the barrels for her figure eight set up closer to the barrels and simplfying her sideways game. Those changes made sense, because when you only have 10 minutes to get everything done, simpler is better.
We have learned, having taped past auditions, you tape every one, because often, the first one is best. Once Wendy did her preliminary compulsories, mounting, lateral flexion and indirect/direct reining, they headed out to the rail, and Bingo's extrovert came out, which was fun to watch. Even when all Wendy asked for was the trot, Bingo really wanted to canter, and Wendy handled his exuberance without squelching it. I had to keep reminding myself to focus on taping and not watching, because it was obvious they were both having fun.
At one point, the wind was blowing so hard, it almost took me off my feet; extra points should go to Wendy and Bingo for performing in a gale, a frenetic atmosphere for doing any audition. They really pulled it off. In my never to be humble opinion, they earned that blue string today!
Wendy took Bingo's saddle off, and he seemed quite happy to just hang out with us. After I got a couple of pictures of Wendy and Bingo relaxing, I asked Wendy if I could play with him at Liberty, and she said yes. It made me happy, because I thought he might just be in the right mood for some stick to me game.
When Wendy or I have asked Bingo to play trot stick to me, especially in a big arena, he has generally squirted away like a Mentos coming out of a full Coke bottle. Today, I really tried to concentrate on asking for what I wanted only after he got to do what he wanted to do. If he wanted to go to the left instead of right, we went left, but I directed to a barrel where he got a cookie. I did several changes of direction on the rail so I could draw him towards me.
After going around the arena with small starts and stops of trotting, we did a big trot together along the long side of the arena and when I stopped, he stopped. Wow, that felt really good, I think for both of us. Then we did a couple of circles at one end of the arena both left and right. What fun! Wendy enjoyed seeing how well Bingo is moving now without shoes. Wendy then took Bingo to get a well deserved hose down. I think it was a very good day for Bingo. While Bingo got his bath, I went to get Maverick. He was waiting near the gate and came right over as soon as he saw me. He just loves playing with Wendy and me. He loves the attention. He loves the games, he loves to learn. He was still feeling a little off from the hoof abcess, but not enough not to get some exercise, so we decided we would start with getting a better circle game. After about 15 minutes of consistently asking for a better circle by bumping him to the middle, we got some really nice circles.
Then we did some figure eights online, which he is learning to do really well. I realized I was not sending him as he gave me two eyes coming around the barrels. When I got more precise, Maverick got much smoother doing the figure eight, and we quit. Then it was time to ride, which both of us did; I rode while Wendy sent Maverick on the circle. I followed that by doing a big figure eight, which he did better than the last time we did it, so it was time to hop off and let Wendy play.
One of the wonderful things about having Wendy as a partner in training Maverick is that she brings another dynamic and perspective in approaching what we do when we play with him. She rode him along the rail doing transitions for a bit along with playing with him doing the figure eight. But she had a great idea, as he was so calm, she thought a trotting passenger lesson would be really good for him, allowing him to make some decisions of his own. Interestingly, he followed the rail at first, but then he did not quite know what to do!
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