Back in Maryland

I had a great break from school - I went home to Alaska for 5 weeks and am now back in Maryland! I got some great time in riding. Being the middle of winter in Alaska, and almost always below freezing, we just ride bareback and with a hackamore to keep us warmer and from having to shove a cold bit into a horses mouth (or warming it up on our hands). My horse was fat and hadn't been ridden that much (maybe once every other week), but she was an angel nonetheless. Perhaps not a perfect angel every time, but very nearly so.

My mom has a 2 and a half year old Paint mare, a 7 year old Quarter Horse mare and my 15 year old Quarab. So, when mom and I wanted to go riding we had to pony the Paint mare so she wouldn't be left behind and freak out. Mom and I took turns ponying her when both of us went riding. It started out okay, but her horse started getting really irritated with the "baby" (as we still call her). Now, to give Cheval some credit, the "baby" (Llegua), is a trouble maker, and sometimes even a Trouble Maker. However, my horse, despite her 3/4 Arabian nature, was more patient with Llegua and I got to lead her most of the time. Llegua is pretty good at being led, but being a "left-brained extrovert" (a new phrase I learned from one of my mom's horsenalities DVDs), when she gets tired, or for whatever reason doesn't want to keep going, she just stops right there. Me, being [almost] equally stubborn, will NOT let go of the leadrope because then she would be getting away with stopping with out being asked.

Did I mention we were riding bareback? And my horse is an Arabian who doesn't like to stop just because the annoying "baby" beside her is stopping?

No, I didn't fall off, but it came close a couple times. And Llegua proved more stubborn than me because I let go of that leadrope before I fell! I only lost the leadrope a couple of times, and Llegua got much better about only stopping when everyone else stopped, but I had a VERY precarious seat a couple of times...