Lucky Star and I went over to Pine Dell for our 2nd group lesson. Lucky Star learned how to skip and stagger. Well, really he learned how to stay calm and quiet while I skipped and then staggered around him. It’s a desensitizing thing. He got to have all the fun, watching a lunatic and then get petted. I was dressed in my sexy red Christmas Rueben fleece coat (50% off from Curvy Cowgirl) and my Santa Claus hat. It had gotten up to a 60 degree grey day and the temperature had plummeted down to nearly 50 something when the lesson started. I started sweating. I won’t mention the panting. Soon, I had to take my Santa hat off. Lucky Star got to carry that on the saddle horn.
Finally Karen was happy with my stagger and skipping skills and she let us play The Seven Games with an obstacle. Lucky Star chose an orange traffic barrel for his obstacle. I drug it in front of him and let him try to eat it. We maneuvered his front end and then his back end around it. We backed around the barrel. I even picked up the barrel and told him to move his hindquarters and then his forequarters. “Hey, no problem…if the barrel tells me to move a particular part, I will!”
He wanted to sidepass over barrel, but Karen stopped him. She told him he might panic if this was the first ever thing he sidepassed over. She told him that he might get one of his feet stuck in the barrel and get a little nervous. So, Lucky Star picked a pole to sidepass over. We returned to the barrel and used it to play the squeeze game between the barrel, the wall and the pedestal. Oh my he was having a great time.
Then Karen told me that I had to skip and stagger around him again. Then I had to take my beautiful coat off as the sweat really started. I flung the coat around while I staggered and skipped. He really didn’t like it too much when I flung it over his eyes, but he stayed calm and still. He didn’t care a whit that I flung it over his neck while I was hanging on to his mane in between my crazed antics.
Say, did I ever tell you about the time when I was riding Velvet in a lesson with Jenny. The temperature had plummeted to less than 20 degrees. I was a frozen human when the lesson ended. We were all gathered around Jenny in a horse huddle when I dismounted. However, my legs were frozen and I staggered around for a moment and then fell underneath Velvet in a heap. Thanks to the early staggering desensitizing game in Velvet’s youth, she just ignored me. I just wanted to tell that story of how you might actually stagger in real life!
Lucky Star had time to drag out a big ball and had me bounce it off his back for a minute or too. He wanted to impress Karen. He told me to roll it under his belly. Sadly, Karen missed that part. She was actually paying attention to another horse and rider team in the group lesson.
Karen and the other lesson people missed my mounting step dismount too. I was having Lucky Star practice coming to get me on the mounting block. Sadly, he came a little close, I got a little off balance and chose to fly off the mounting block steps. Luckily, I didn’t have me beautiful red coat on when I dove into the arena dirt! Lucky Star was carrying my coat for me then. Lucky Star wasn’t too interested in the fact that I dove into the arena dirt either. He just stood there. People without horses just don’t have this kind of adventure! What they are missing!!!
Lucky Star had to circle around me at a gait faster than a walk and maintain it. Since he doesn’t see the point in keeping up any kind of speed, it was difficult to convince him to keep going. But we managed and got some praise. We were both exhausted at the end of the lesson.
Karen told Lucky Star that he is going to make someone a wonderful horse with his confidence and calmness.
Lucky Star is owned by Teresa and Junior Osborn. He might be for sale after the Missouri Fox Trotter World Celebration in September.