Whisper's Ears

Anyone who has ever been on a horse will recognize this view. Yes, I finally just hopped on. Stupid thing to do really. No one was around and the arena isn't fenced. It could have been a royal wreck. But he just stood there. And stood there. And stood some more. He was listening to me - look at how his ear is cocked. I bounced around in the saddle and rubbed his neck and and his butt. I dropped the reins so I could put my arms around him and rub under his neck. He just stood there. Then I got brave and decided we should move out. I squeezed - and he stood there. I clucked - and he stood there. I picked up the reins and gave him some serious leg. He took one step sideways. Finally I decided that just hanging out wasn't a bad thing. After all, I was sitting down. After 10 minutes or so I slid off him. He stood still for that too. About then my mother showed up so I got back on him and had her lead him. This made him really nervous and he started dancing around. That made me nervous - I've seen him buck. So we settled him down and I sat on him and flexed him for another 5 minutes or so and called it good. He got lots of treats and pats.

The picture was actually taken today. Now that I know he's not going anywhere I could probably do entire photo shoots from this position. He either doesn't have a clue what to do or is the most stubborn horse on 4 legs. I plan to let the professionals answer that one. His trainer will be back in a couple of weeks and she can determine the next step. For now I'm perfectly happy just to use him as a comfy cushion and practice flexing and giving to the bit - he's pretty good at that. One interesting note. Once you're actually on this guy he doesn't seem so big. Go figure....