Getting better all the time

First of all I got the level rider in the mail Wednesday. I tried it yesterday. I expected Indigo to be a complete fool. It was windy, but not cold and she is usually nutty at every swaying bush when it is windy.

I put the level on the horn of my saddle and had to do some adjustment to make sure it was center on the saddle horn before I put it on my horse so I wasn't riding off balance because of what it said. I saddled up Indigo after chasing down a missing saddle pad (was in the machine shed for some unknown reason) and headed out the door. The wind was a slightly warm breeze. Better than it's been in ages. Now Indigo is usually a nutter when it comes to wind. She hates it, she spooks at bushes and tall grass hissing in the wind. Shes waiting for that bear to hop out from when she was in Tennessee on a trail ride. Always waiting.

I got on her and what do you know she was great! She stood wile I adjusted myself but tried to eat grass. What a pig. We walked around the driveway because it was too muddy to go anyplace else. You know the kind of mud that is just sticky for about two inches then the rest is solid. Yeah that type.

So she was being really good and exceptionally patient. She stood got 5 minutes with only one attempt to walk off at the end of the driveway as all sorts of speeding vehicles went by and one even honked. She just flicked her ear and stood there.

I was surprised to know I lean a little to the right. I asked the neighbor if she could see that I was leaning and she said unless she had stopped to specifically look she would have never noticed. Goes to show you how precise that level is.

Someone mentioned to me about an uneven horse and the level. Well here is how that would work *channeling the massage therapist here*. Horses may seem uneven a lot of the time and yes that needs to be put into consideration when using this level, but I see far more horses that are uneven in their backs and muscles because of riders than I do because of natural causes. A lot of times those natural causes can be fixed or bettered by chiropractor work or massage therapy.

So I headed off at a trot. Indigo tried to pull her famous tuck and toss her head as she charged/struck out with her front leg. She almost always does that when shes excited after a long winter off. It was quickly fixed by a tug on my right rein and she settled into a nice slow jog. Wow, what has the winter done with my horse!? No funny stuff? No attempts to assassinate me on the first early spring ride out of the round pen!?

I think this has a lot to do with the spring after I got her. I got her in July and she had the winter off. Oh man she was a pistol. She would charge ahead, ignore my requests to stop on a woah and just stupid little things in general. OH she also attempted to buck me off and crow hop when I asked for the canter. Not cool. So Indigo got a nice taste of boot camp.

I must have worked for three weeks strait on woahing when I asked and standing till I counted to a number I was happy with before her carrying on. If she walked off before I said so I would make her trot or canter. She decided real quick it was pretty easy to stand but she was still anxious sometimes.

But I think it's finally kicking in. She stood like a champ. What a good girl.