"Hey, I was Listening to That!"

As I drove to the stable the clouds clung to the ground, in areas light broke through and in others I could see the feathery textured clouds whirling as if they were the steam above a witches cauldron.  It was very peaceful driving out to the stable.  I had contacted Susan about seeing who Riddle was, a horse that I can lease for the day at times when my husband Steve wants to come riding with me.  You know how that goes, meeting Susan...I gave her a time range but didn't expect much.  She was at the stable when I arrived doing some work with hay...well actually talking to the two guys moving the hay bales.  She said once she was done she'd talk to me about Riddle.

I decided not to wait and went to get Willy started up.  Since it had been raining a little Willy had mud splattered legs and damp ears.  I worked slowly in the indoor ring as I let him dry off a little bit, shining up his coat until it glowed like cherry chocolate.  He sure does shine when he's clean.  I love that about colored horses, they can really show off the light in a nice healthy shimmer.  I do like grey horses but their "white" coats don't quite have that shiny glow that bays, blacks or chestnuts have, although a flea bitten grey can be quite striking or a well groomed almost all white grey horse!  Once I had Willy tacked up I looked outside for Susan, gone, go figure.  Oh well I decided I'd work in the indoor ring for a little while since I didn't want to get too cold and wet in the misty outdoors. 

Willy had issues of starting to walk while I mounted so I tried to work on him with that by getting on and off a few times.  We also continued working on stops or shall I say eventual stops.  Not surprisingly he's always better after I've worked with him for a bit but he's still not responsive like Divine.  Working to get him up to a trot is also a chore anymore, just a squeeze for Divine equates to a squeeze, SQUEEZE, kick, KICK, with Willy but again he got better as the ride went on.  Once I did get Willy trotting we went in circles and I alternated between sitting trot and posting.  I nearly died laughing when "I've had the time of my life" started wafting over the radio station just as I was thinking about Patrick Swayze moves and the sitting trot!  Timing is everything they say!  I wish I could get Willy collected, his trot is still pretty stiff and he stumbles more than other horses but that's age and most likely collection but he does good with what he's got!  I do think as it gets into the fall I'll be looking for another horse to lease, I like the responsiveness of Divine and would like to find a horse younger than Willy to lease.  Though she's frustrated me at times I feel I have learned a lot and have become a better horse person because of her.  Don't get me wrong I love Willy but even in a lease horse you need to have a good match between rider and horse.

Willy's cute hind hooves, see the dot and the darker "stripe" on the hoof below?

Susan finally did come into the indoor ring, the sitting area that is, looking for something.  My guess her cell phone was lost again.  I said hi and asked about Riddle to remind her about our "appointment".  She walked over to the radio and changed the channel then came back over to me.  How rude!  I was listening to that!  It wasn't like I was blaring "Parental Advisory" songs, I was listening to an oldies channel!  What ever happened to this lady saying that I could change the radio to whatever I wanted when I was working in there?  I shrugged it off, figuring I'd turn it back once she left.  She told me Riddle was the big horse over by the smaller riding ring.  I asked if he was that big dark bay....she said no, the brown one....um isn't that what dark bay is, although a more specific and educated label for horse colors?  I had to laugh to myself, every time I deal with this woman she never ceases to amaze me, LOL.  I led Willy out of the ring to follow her and see Riddle.  Yeah he was dark bay, almost black.  Bays are a brown color horse with black points (mane, tail and lower legs).  He had a lot darker brown hence the term dark bay, I'll show a good picture of him sometime.  Obviously if he didn't show brown on his face or body he would be considered black....but horse color comes in grades and variations, sometimes for certain horses it's hard to draw the line between certain colors.  I just know I've never seen a BROWN horse.  Chestnut, bays...yes, brown, NO!

After I got Willy untacked and back in his pen with his hay, I walked into Riddles pen.  He was huge!  My guess he was 16.3 almost 17 hands!  He had his blanket and fly mask on so I couldn't see much of his coloration but he seems to have pretty big pointy hips, Susan said she was still trying to get weight on him.  I hope he will do well for Steve; my hubby will be looking down from the clouds at me and my tiny 15 hand horse! Steve is planning on coming to ride next Sunday, I'll post pictures!

One of the little mini's who Willy used to have as a roomate