I own a total badass. If my horse was in GREASE she’d be a Pink Lady. And not just any Pink Lady. We’re not talking Frenchie. She’s Rizzo all the way.

The other day there was a strange horse tied in the arena. I don’t know why. This horse was not happy. To express this she would randomly kick at other horses being ridden. I kept Prize far out of reach because I know her love of violence. But when I had untacked her and went to put her away we had to go through a gate near this horse. I tried to hurry her through but she was being very slow. The mean horse turned her butt towards us in a very menacing way. I tugged on Prize to get her to move before she got kicked. Instead Prize lazily turned her head to look at the bad horse. The bad horse was looking over her shoulder all the better to aim the kick. There was a split second of eye contact and then the bad horse sheepishly turned her butt back towards the wall and away from us. When that was finished Prize consented to pass through the gate. Ah, the secret to karate lies in the mind and not the fist, Daniel-son.

I had a really good ride on her on Tuesday. I had decided that if she was that good today I was going to bring her home at the end of the month. I got there and the trainer said that she was very bad yesterday. Then he said that he had been thinking about what I told him about her getting bad when she gets bored. He said that he thought it was time to give her a break and take her home. Great minds think alike I guess. She was wonderful today for me. This week for the first time I’m seeing glimpses that she understands and can do everything we’re asking of her. I think the badness is boredom. If I bring her home we can alternate between pleasure practice, trail riding, trail obstacles in the arena, driving, and sidesaddle lessons. That should keep her from getting bored.

We jumped today. There was no reason to but she was being exhuberant. There were some poles on the ground. When we started canter work she decided that they needed to be jumped. Reminded me of riding Spirit. He never jumped anything lower than 4 feet even if the jump was only set at 18 inches.