Surprise Ride!

It rained yesterday morning but after I showed Michelle and Jerry how to take care of the horses while we're gone this weekend the sun finally started to shine! And boy was it hot and muggy then.

The little piglets got to eat in the grass the whole time so I put them in and let there bellies rest a little before I proceeded to take Dixie out. I brought her out in the the big pasture and I just had her on the 12 ft. line. We did a little bit of the Traveling Circling game. Then went on to the one obstacle other than trees out there right now, the barrel. So she jumped it and pawed it and all that good stuff. I tried a while back to get Dixie to go sideways over it and she has been slowly but SURELY getting better at it. Well today went great! I barely had to go to Phase 2 and she just was like "You mean do this?!" and sidways'ed herself over it with no hesitation! So I was like "Ok..that's great!! Now let's try the other side!" And Walhla! She did that with no problem either! I was so proud. Then we went on to the trees...which she loves to rub her head on then paw and paw and paw. It's so cute to watch her. Finally we just did some sideways with out a fence, some really fast sideways towards (She absolutely LOVES this!) and then just running around like lunies! :) Dixie got a kick out of this. At first we just did when I trot you trot, when I canter you canter beside me...but then we ran all up and down the hill and through all the tall weeds. She was bucking and kicking and having a good 'ole time!

Finally after some playtime we headed out down the gravel road for a walk. Cocoa wasn't necessarily pleased to be left behind but I told her it was Dixie's turn. Not much...just some Zone 3 driving...along the way. Found a goofy looking stump which Dixie pawed the crap out of and then to my surprise put one foot up and then the second!! She was standing up on it and it was like a 1 and 1/2 tall! She wasn't as graceful getting down...

We got to a car parking spot and I thought..."Mmm..perfect for mounting." Dixie lined her self up beside it and I hopped on. :) She didn't do anything so we proceeded to walk on and then after a little bit turned towards home. Now...it's such a good feeling to ride her! She has so much muscle and a really nice topline compared to Cocoa! I can't wait to see what she looks like when she's all grown up. Dixie has a long stride even though she toes out which is kinda a goofy feeling at the walk. So we just headed down the gravel road and Dixie acting like a seasoned trail horse not a 2 year old that has just been ridden a couple times. She turned great and we even had pickups passing us. She kept checking in and wanted to do lateral flexion and we did a lot of stop and backups. Then I got ambitious and was like I wonder how she would do if I asked her to trot...I've only trotted her once when my friend Katie hopped on Cocoa when we were coming back from the river and then I hopped on Dixie...and Dixie trotted to catch up. Well Dixie listens like a dream and immediately breaks into a trot. We trotted for about 10 strides and then I asked her to stop and she broke into a walk and then stopped and we backed up! Her trot was Ah-mazing, very controlled and smooth. Which surprised me the first time she trotted because she toes out...so I thought her trot would be rough but it was wonderful! So much easier to sit than Cocoa's, that's for sure. At that point I got off and then let her eat grass from the ditch! I was so proud of my baby! Walked the rest of the way home and she got a nice juicy apple I picked from the tree.