Hail No

One of the things that I used to struggle with when riding TC as a young horse was that once something set him off, he often wouldn't be able to calm down. Basically his brain would fall out, he'd freak the hell out, and then just be nuts the rest of the day. It became more about survival than actually working on anything.

On Saturday it wasn't raining when we got on, but the clouds looked ominous. I figured we'd have five or ten minutes to walk around the ranch (I am so not a lead-your-horse-to-the-arena kind of person, I love wandering around for ten or fifteen minutes before and after working) and then we'd go hide in the covered arena while it was raining.

Take me back to the days of outdoor arenas being open, wait
maybe they'll be open today... I should stop complaining

I was almost correct, it started dumping on us just as we were rounding our second to last turn toward the arena. It didn't rain though, this was hail. TC seemed okay for a second, but then all the other horses FREAKED about the hail on the tin roofs around them. TC, who doesn't always give into peer pressure but did this time, also freaked out. He started trotting a bit and I was going to just aim him into the arena and ride, but then he slammed to a halt and I knew that I wasn't going to make it to the covered arena in one piece.

This is what they teach us the emergency dismount for though, so I flung myself off of him as he went up and he landed and spun around me, in pure panic mode. I put my whip in front of him so that he wouldn't drag me and we walked to the cross ties being pelted by hail and he was really scared, standing there trembling. I don't blame him, horse was born in a drought and last year we mostly just got rain. It really doesn't hail very often.

He stood in the cross ties and I put his cooler on even just to give him a little bit of protection (since the hail was coming in a bit sideways) and he slowly calmed down with me petting him and telling him that he was okay.

Rico in the winter... One day TC will be like this. Then I will
sell him and take a three month road trip.

After the hail turned to a light rain (it wasn't very long), I walked him to the covered arena and led him around once before getting on. The moment I was on him, I could feel a huge hump in his back. He didn't feel like he could go forward at all, his back was so tight. He was super nervous, spooking a lot and he felt dull but explosive to my leg, if that makes sense. We walked around and I had to give myself a pep talk before we trotted.

It took a long time. We trotted for a long time. He really didn't want to come through and relax, but we slowly worked down into a stretch, for which he got a ton of scratches and good boys. Slowly he started to reach for the bridle and slowly I felt his back relax and him start swinging through it a bit more.

By the end of the ride, he was totally chill, even though it had rained a few more times (horse hates rain and apparently ESPECIALLY hates hail) and even though the five western riders were all having a chat riding abreast on the rail (so basically taking up half the arena, gah). We got some really good canter work- I rode an exercise Kate had done in her lesson that I watched earlier that day, a little haunches-in and a little shoulder-in at the canter to get TC to be more accessible laterally- and ended with some stellar leg yields.

Some places are pretty when it rains... 

In the past, I really don't think I would have gotten him as relaxed and through. I honestly probably wouldn't have ridden him, or if I did, I would have been taken off with a lot. I think it's a combination of him being more mature, me having more influence over him due to better training, and me trusting that I CAN get him back to me after he gets worried.

Even though he turns seven in a few weeks, he's still a bit spooky and reactive, but the reactivity is getting less and I can get him back to me 99 times out of a hundred. I definitely wouldn't have said that a year ago!