She was much, much perkier today, so Heather and I rode in the arena again. Besides the usual, we practiced opening and closing the 'gate' and I rode a few minutes in 2-point in response to Viva Carlos' 2pointober challenge. I'm not actually participating in the challenge but I will be making it a point this month to ride in two-point much more often - it is great for building core strength.
Before calling it a day, Heather and I also decided to have the girls pull a tire around. We're gearing up for an obstacle challenge on November 1st - I don't expect to place but I don't want Ruby to be completely unprepared either. We took it very slow. First, I pulled the tire around myself while Heather led the mares some distance behind the tire. A few times, they were allowed to 'catch' the tire and sniff. Then we each led our own mare around while we pulled the tire. Candy has pulled a cart so for her this was really no big deal. Ruby on the other hand, wasn't sure she liked this new game.
My shoulders when we were backing - gah! Something else to work on. Anyway, Ruby did very well. I expected at least a 'scoot' when we turned around and started walking, but needn't have worried. Before the corner she was turning her head to the right and keeping an eye on the tire, just in case it grew legs and came after us. The head-toss at the end was when a dragon fly flew by her face. She does not like when bugs fly within three feet of her head and will toss her head every time. I was very pleased with how well she did and in fact, after Heather and Candy had taken their turn, Ruby and I pulled the tire all the way back to arena gate like she'd been doing it forever. We have more pony tortures scheduled this week, so stay tuned.
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