Spring has sprung

I rode Cleo today for the first time in a week; Paula, my trainer, was sick on Tuesday and I used the day to recuperate from a miserable few weeks at work. I have been missing weekend rides due to work-required travel and other responsibilities, but many of us in Humboldt County have spotty riding schedules from November through March related to weather and often the winter gloomy blues. But I have been making progress during my weekly lessons and on the weekends when I can ride. Even though I missed Tuesday, I had ridden both weekend days last weekend, and I rode today and will ride tomorrow as my Mother's Day present to myself. Cleo has been pretty good lately, especially since it's spring and very windy. Not only do horses often react to wind because it flashes unfamiliar objects within their vision, but also the wind carries new and sometimes scary smells from far away. Spring also turns mares' thoughts to love, even though stallions are forbidden at our stables. But then there are the exciting smells carried in by the wind, perhaps. At any rate, our new accomplishment is riding up and down the lane without Paula there to rescue me if necessary. Today the weather was almost warm, and Cleo was pretty good considering she is 'in season,' the wind was blowing, and three other horses were also in the arena--one also a mare, and new to her. On occasion, she has rebelled when a horse she doesn't know is sharing her 'space.' But she behaved until the very end when she wanted to hang out at the rail with the other horses while their riders gossipped. "It's not fair,"she complained and tried to avoid trotting in the other direction away from the fun. But thanks to my whip, spurs, and some firm direction on my part, we 'worked through it' and then managed to follow the other horses down the lane and back into the arena with no argument. In other words, 'a good horse day.'