In L-O-V-E

I really shouldn't ride horses that are for sale. Really.

Yesterday I had a lesson on Vera. She is an ISR mare out of a TB mare by Conquistador. She is 12 years old. Neither my trainer or I thought it would be a good match, but she's there so why not. She is a gem. She is also a mare (which I "thought" that I have sworn off from ever riding/owning again-maybe not.)

I was late for my lesson and got to the barn when my lesson was suppose to start. Stupid Seattle traffic on a Friday. Seriously (side bitch)  it rains....no one can drive...it's sunny...no one can drive. SUPER annoying.

Ms. Vera is bigger than I thought. I still half expect whatever horse I ride to have a freak out in the cross ties. I was nervous about leaving her while I grabbed her stuff, but a friend reminded me that the horses at our barn don't do that. She's right. Vera did a few "I'm going to bite you" moves when I was getting her ready. I reminded her twice that "We DON'T do that" and she was a peach the rest of the time. She was a lesson horse, so I figure that's her normal test of her new rider.

I grabbed her stuff and made it to the arena. Luckily the last lesson went over, so it wasn't a huge deal that I was late. Once we got to the arena I adjusted her girth (least girthy horse that I have ever met. Didn't care at all.) I decided that since I knew NOTHING about her, to wait for my trainer. Vera stood like a champ while we waited.

My trainer, who knows my thoughts on new horses and such, gave me a quick run down and told me a "few" things that Vera might do. She likes to donkey head (and try to pull the reins away.) That doesn't bother me at all. Once I got on, she did it, and I nicely reminded her that we don't do that either.

Up to a month ago, and coming to our barn, she was a Hunter/Jumper. She (I guess, I know NOTHING about hunter/jumpers) runs around with her head in the air, and doesn't flex very well, or go on the bit without some work. We did circles and figure 8's and she would go on the bit and relax. O-M-G. I LOVE HER. I think my trainer was worried that she wouldn't be a good fit because she's not a "dressage" horse. She is currently in training to do so, but doesn't carry herself yet, and need a lot of support from your legs/hands to bend and flex. She is super sensitive to your leg, but not at all with her mouth. PERFECT. She was catching on during our ride that if she'd bend and relax, she got a release from my hands. She would drop her head down REALLY low (like a hunter maybe?) but all I cared about was that it was dropped.

A few of my friends came to watch me ride her, and I'm sure they were humoring me, but said, "You look like you know what you're doing." Ha! I felt like I knew what I was doing. She has a H-U-G-E trot and I do not feel skilled enough to go from the very fast trot into a canter, so we did walk/canter transitions. LOVE HER.

As of this AM I am now leasing her. I feel like a 12 year old girl! I'm so excited. She is still for sale, but mine in the meantime. (Is it selfish of me to hope she doesn't sell....probably!)