Chief Thundercloud. Not

It is confirmed: Champagne is a wuss about thunder.

Last night as I was warming up for my lesson, suddenly he didn’t want to go near one end of the ring. Next he spooked ten feet away from a bush. Then it was real work to keep him near the rail. And all the time he was popping his neck way up, moving sideways, looking at things that weren’t there, and being completely unresponsive to the aids. Then he began to trot really fast . . . maybe the fastest he’s ever gone. Very out of character.

Finally we heard a distant roll of thunder. Champagne had probably been hearing it through his feet. He wouldn’t have been a safe ride for Ken, but I had a horse with lots of undirected energy. Cath had me work on doing a lot of change ups to focus his mind back inside the ring, and paying attention to me. Walk/stop transition, walk/trot transitions, 20 meter circles, and finally canter/trot transitions. By the end of the hour, I was really tired. I haven’t been riding that much with all the other stuff going on, and haven’t even been to the gym since last week on Wednesday.

Once again, and especially with a jumpy horse, riding proved its value as therapy. There is no room for sadness or anything else unrelated to the ride. I was also working at staying calm to help him feel calm. Then too, it is helpful to get physically tired to match my emotional exhaustion. The combination helped me sleep fairly well last night.

After my lesson, Ken rode in the indoor. The thunder had vanished and there were no visual distractions, so Champagne went back to sleep, testing Ken and making him work at getting some impulsion. Still, Ken has come a long way in just a few short months (riding just half an hour a week!) I hope by Wyoming we’ll both be strong enough to enjoy hours in the saddle.