Wednesday work-out

Historically, Max has Wednesdays off, but not today.

I decided early on, since I didn't have much time to do anything meaningful with him yesterday, that despite the four hours of yard work in the morning, and four hours at the office in the afternoon, I would try to get my act together and energy up enough to have a mini-schooling session with the boy between jobs.

I whizzed through the yard work like a demon, and managed to have Max saddled up and ready to go by 11.15.

My YO has been lunging Max in a copper snaffle, and she said he was going really nicely in it, so I wanted to try it ridden to determine how he felt in that, as opposed to his Pee Wee, or the Tom Thumb Scrubs I rode him in a couple of weeks ago.

Max came to me with a sweet iron snaffle, and he hated the bejeezus out of it. Very melodramatic as he pranced around, mouth agape with borderline hysteria:

"Gak! No! Take it out! Out, out, out! I can't breathe! I can't see! My feet! I can't feel my feet! I've gone numb... Oh Lord help me, my tail's dropped off!"

Comparing that original snaffle to the copper one the YO is working with, the copper is more slimline and does fit quite nicely, no banging on his teeth or possibility of obstructing his delicate airways or knocking his hooves clean off.

We did about 20 minutes of trot work in the school, and I have to admit he did feel pretty comfy in it. No resistance, no open mouthed protests, just good consistent work, fairly attentive and responsive.

I'm not sure though. I have to go back to the Pee Wee now to compare and contrast, because I still think the Pee Wee is most comfy for him, and despite lack of brakes and steering, he seems most relaxed in his eye and demeanour with no bit at all.

All that aside, was delighted that I managed to fit in a short schooling session on my tight schedule. It felt lovely to go to the office having ridden my boy, and I will try to keep it up in the future.

We are all out of carrots until I do the grocery shopping (when? Tomorrow? The next day? Where can I find me a "wife"?) so we finished off with banana stretches, which worked every bit as well as carrot stretches.

Max loves him some banana!