SHN 2009 - First night

We got down to the Horse Park in record time. We unloaded the horses and all the assorted horse show stuff. Then I rode both horses.

Skyy was very scared, poor boy. He had a lot of anxiety but he was a bit more relaxed after he lunged for a bit. Then we went up to work in the area where the dressage rings were. Things were going okay - he was being obedient but he was very tense. I was just waiting for him to take a deep breath and relax just a touch. However it started to rain.

I don't think he's ever been ridden in the rain, and he did not like it. It put him over the edge a little bit and he started running a little sideways to try and get away from the rain. I called his owner over and she grabbed his bridle and lead him around in the rain. I wanted him to realize two things - that the rain wasn't going to hurt him, and that we weren't going to stop just because he didn't care for the weather.

Once it stopped raining he calmed down and we got back to work. He wasn't done expressing his disapproval for his having to work through the rain. I asked him to canter and he exploded, bolting, kicking, and twisting. It was very quick and was over before I could say "Skyy!" Then he got back to work and even though he was tense we cantered each direction and everything was fine.

Albert was great for his schooling ride. It rained pretty hard on us as well and Albert didn't like it much either but it bothered him less than Skyy. I was soaked when we were done. So was the aisle in front of our stalls. Unfortunately we have the wettest stalls in the whole shed row. WE asked if we could move but they didn't have stalls close by that we could move to. So we are stuck with the huge puddles.

And unfortunately it's going to rain all week. So we will just be soggy. I just hope I don't have to show in the rain. I know nobody likes it, but I'm still crossing my fingers.

Now I'm very tired, and I'm going to bed. Tomorrow I show Albert. After I get sleep.

SHN 2009 - Tuesday