Ruffian: Circles, Stick to me, and more!

March 26 2010

Before Mom and I left for our Parelli play day I played with Ruffian. Talk about weather change! Yesterday it was warm (even though it was windy) but today when I went out it was -10 but with the wind it felt like -20!! Wow! Bring out the winter boots, hat, coat, gloves, scarves, extra socks etc etc. It was a great day for playing with Ruffian though because you stay warm! :)

I decided not to brush Ruffy before we played like I normally do, I thought he might like the extra hair today ;) So after we went up to the riding ring. I have noticed a pattern in Ruffian that after you halter him he goes internal for a couple minutes (sometimes it happens just before I halter him also) so I will wait until he comes out of it and then we will continue. Because of this we always start off slower and then pick up the pace once Ruffy is ready. Normally by the time we get up to the riding ring Ruffy is ready to play but sometimes he needs a little bit more time. So it depends on the day. Today though he was ready to run! So we did some traveling circles at the canter. We have to travel around a bit because our riding ring isn't quite big enough plus you can put different obstacles in the way. Ruffy had a lot of energy but not like the last time we played so that was nice. :) I don't mind his energy but last times was a little too much! 

Ruffian and I had a lot of fun though... but then we always have fun! After Ruffy had run for a while I started throwing in some transitions in. I couldn't believe how in tune Ruffy was to my energy! All I had to do was relax and he would slow down and then he would speed up at a phase 2 or less! It was really neat! After that we did some Stick to me, walk, trot, back up etc. Ruffy was really in tune with me. Our back up needed a little bit more attention but Ruffian did very well over all. 

Then we did some yo-yo's. I couldn't believe how much effort Ruffy put into backing up! Cool! I asked him to back all the way out to the end of the 22ft line and then I sent him over to the barrel that was by the fence. I wanted Ruffian to jump it but I wasn't planning on asked him yet but he must have read my mind because he jumped it! And it was almost from a stand still! It was really cool! Ruffian it such a cool horse! 

After that I let Ruffian go. He stayed with me though so we spend a little bit of time just hanging out before I had to go. So even though it was cold we still had a whole lot of fun! :)

Naturally,

~Keri