Fall ponies...

I rode Callie on Friday morning and she was fabulous- as long as I was on her back! Before I rode I brushed and pampered her for about 45 minutes- she got a trim of her whiskers, braided her mane (which has been getting thicker and is starting to lay down flat in places- I have an appaloosa- this is amazing to me!) and trimmed her scraggly tail pieces. She loves the attention and frequently stopped me to stick her face in my cozy sweatshirt for some snugs :) This horse LOVES fleecey things. I consider putting a blanket on her wall because she just loves rubbing her nose on it so much!

When I got to the ring, though, immediately she stepped on my foot and tried bolting from me twice. I jumped on anyway and I could feel her quivering, like she just needed to get the kinks out, but she wouldn't do it if I was on (this is a VERY good thing!) so I took her bridle off and allowed her to run around. This is what happened!

Afterwards we had a fabulous ride, lots of transitions and even some simple lead changes. She listened, was relaxed but alert and she was just lovely overall. Afterwards, she ate carrots in her stall while I cleaned this mess of a grooming kit:

From this:

To this:

And in case you want to know what it looks like from the back of Callie:

Happy Sunday everyone!