The Not So Good, Very Bad Buckskin Who Redeemed Himself in the End

I should have brought popcorn!! Sarah ended up coming to watch (and help video, THANK YOU Sarah). It was great seeing Sarah again and she got to meet Remus in person finally. I had warned her it might be fun watching Emily ride Remus and it was. Tanya showed up after the acrobatics and fireworks were over (AKA she just got to watch me ride HA).  I love my friends. It was cold as shit and they still came out!

Sarah helped me tack up and get straight (I was dropping gloves left and right and just a mess). Though in return she got to wrap up in Remus’s 100 gram Rambo liner so I think she won there (Shocking, it was cold, right? What else is new?).

Emily was just finishing up teaching a lesson and she asked if she should get on first or after. I was like um whatever. So she got on first. First mistake (In Remus’s mind anyway). Remus was a PILL. Like take a pill and make it Remus size and paint it buckskin, you get the picture.  OMG.

Disclaimer: No horses or people were hurt in the filming of these videos. Remus was being a total shit and Emily was professional to the end making him go forward. He chose this battle. He suffered the consequences. IF he had just moved off her right leg, the ride would have been less intense. I love him but damn if he isn’t a prize ass at times. End of Disclaimer!

Emily hopped on and started making Remus walk on. Well she went to use her right leg and he started backing up. (He does this when he gets mad or irritated or whatever). Now to be fair I hadn’t ridden him since the last weekend it was actually decent weather (2-3 weeks ago). But to also be fair, she was asking him to move off her leg at a WALK. Drama Queen much, Remus?  See for yourself. Be sure to watch the whole video. See the athlete express himself? Then look at this same horse in July and marvel at the difference. LOL HA HA HA

We have several videos of him doing this. I only chose the most colorful ones to share (Watch this next one. Laugh along with me.) Pretty expressive am I right? Bad, Bad, Buckskin!

Emily being the wonderful trainer she is, got the long whip (taller than me) and used it sparingly but got her point across to Remus and he started moving foward. Nicely. He still had a few moments where he was going back into shit territory but over all he was much better. Then she went to ask him to canter. AND HE CANTERED. No buck no nothing. ARGHHH FML. SERIOUSLY? He cantered for her (He had a tail twist or two and one mini buck with her but otherwise he was pretty great cantering).  So that means it is ME causing this issue.

I knew that but it was confirmed now. Sigh. I am human. LOL

She actually got him moving pretty good. Um then I had the massive fail of hitting the slo-mo of my phone? No idea how I did that but if anyone wanted to see Remus even slower moving. Enjoy!! He looks pretty cute no matter slow or regular speed imo!

Then it was time to hop on myself which is when I passed my phone to Sarah. But we cantered. AND I HAVE EVIDENCE that I cantered (thanks again Sarah for coming!). What is the world coming to, with me actualy cantering around a ring??

We first worked on our trot and my ever failing hands and arms. UGH. Thumbs out, elbows in, I should tattoo that to my arms so I see it every time I look down (Or freeze brand it on Remus’s neck?).

But we got some good trots and I am really pleased that he got over his temper tantrum and came to work like a normal horse. With his trot, we worked on me sitting deeper in the stirrups and using my thighs to slow his fast trot up (He has a tendancy to spin his legs when he trots faster rather than moving out). And also when it came to the canter, she had me do the novel idea of using my outside leg as a base BUT also the inside leg to ask him to canter. AND we cantered. I think he only bucked once and we cantered several times, I was so pleased. It has been half a year since I have cantered that much!! Whew. We did both ways and it took us a few minutes but it was still so much better. I used to try leave my inside leg off of him but Emily says by using both legs not only do I drive him into it but also I have support on both sides of him when he does canter. MIND blown.

It really was a fantastic lesson both watching Emily and then me riding him afterwards. And it sealed the thought that Remus will do well having a few days of steady riding from Emily and her working students (Boot Camp, if you will!). If you live local and you haven’t done it yet, take a lesson with Emily. I guarantee an Inception type of experience (in a good way!).  I am linking to her website again here so people have the easy option of just clicking! You won’t regret it!

I ran out of space on my Vimeo account this week uploading so much video. So let’s just say Remus is not as lazy as we often think. I bet he slept really good on Saturday night.

It is just so funny how expressive and antagonistic Remus gets! He is a good horse most of the time but that five-ten percent when he is a jerk, often comes up when someone pro gets on him. I am pretty sure if I had gotten on him he would have been a bit of a jerk but would have gone on forward. But once Emily gets him moving, horse is freaking brilliant. Remus, you confound me. Thank goodness he is cute!!

Oh yeah in case you hadn’t heard: EAGLES WON!! WTF. I am not a fan but I was on the edge of my seat!! Congrats to all Eagles fans. And Patriots fans? Sorry not sorry it was time!! 🙂 It was a great game though. FLY EAGLES FLY!

Hope everyone had a fantastic weekend and got to ride their ponies!! (The weather on Sunday was horrid, rain, ice you name it). Ready for a break in the weather sometime!! COME ON SPRING!!