Parting Ride

My last two rides before my trip to TX didn't really go according to plan, thanks to some unexpected drama at the barn... I swear, it is simply not possible to have a boarding barn sans drama. But, I did get to ride this evening and I did have a wonderful time with Finn, which is all that's really important anyway.

We took a relaxed saunter around the farm, sometimes checking the availability of a bigger walk, but often just letting him pick the pace as long as he was committed to the direction I had in mind. We stretched our comfort zone a bit... going further past the arena on the hill and further down the second driveway. We checked our yields at the points where we turned around, working on getting backwards, HQ, and FQ yields with lightness and without using the reins.

We trotted up the hills once, then decided to go for a canter. On the left lead up the first hill, Finn show-cased his rocking horse canter. I really wanted the right lead for the second hill, and it took two tries to get it, and then Finn wanted to roll into a hand-gallop and I gave him the OK. It was an absolute blast to ride... he RAN laser-straight past the arena and right over the crest of the hill which has marked our threshold for a couple of weeks. It was also nice to feel him so confident and enthusiastic about going somewhere fast... remember what I said about enthusiasm in my last post?

On the one hand, I am observing a pattern developing that features Finn's left lead as the slow direction and his right lead as the fast direction, so I feel a little bad that I played into this instead of working to counter-act it. But mostly I am just pleased. Pleased because Finn has always lacked a bit of confidence to just GO, so I love to encourage him when he gets such ideas in his head. (I certainly don't want to make him feel wrong for offering more forward.) Pleased because of the amazing harmony of two beings sharing one idea. Pleased because I was very appreciative of all Finn's efforts today. And finally, pleased because it was just plain FUN, running up that hill with Finn. I hope he enjoyed it, too; I have a feeling he did.

I lingered quite a while letting Finn graze after we finished our ride. Truth be known, I'll be back Sunday. I might even have time to visit Finn that afternoon. But I miss him anyway. I know this few weeks of being away will be over before I know it (leaving the 4-H trail trial right around the corner!), but it doesn't make me any more content about all the rides all be missing and all the days that will pass without seeing my good friend.

What does make me more content, however, is the knowledge that being away makes me appreciate being home even more. That makes it easier for me to consistently bestow appreciation upon Finn. So, all in all, it isn't such a bad thing. Maybe.