When Tacking Up Takes Longer Than Riding....

My Cowpokes always ask to ride. And I get so excited when they ask to ride. So, when they ask, their Momma gets to work. We keep our horses out in a big 20 acre pasture. So, when one wants to ride, you either have to 1. walk into the pasture and get your horse, or 2. call all the horses in and hope they come. The horses will always come running if it's around feed time, but if you want to ride in the morning? Haa haa good luck getting those grubby guts to come in. That's why it's just easier to keep your horse stalled up over night. The other day Little Cowpoke wanted to ride Peanut, so I called all the horses in and they actually came running. Little Cowpoke and I brushed Peanut and then tacked him up. Tacking up a horse always takes me about 20 minutes or so. I am a firm believer in brushing before riding. That way if there are any cuts or swollen spots I will know about them. Peanut checked out okay and we ventured out to the round pen. We have not ridden Peanut in a few months, so I wasn't sure what he would do. Peanut has no idea what a round pen is. He doesn't get why I am following him around and trying to get him to warm up. He humors me, but he just doesn't get it. It seems funny to me that a horse has no idea what a round pen is, but he is about 20 years old and I am sure when he was broke out he just got ridden. None of that fancy smancy stuff. We are now at about 30 minutes and it's time for Little Cowpoke to get on. Peanut is a little "people sour". I have let him follow me around because I am worried he will "take off" into the sunset with my three year old. So, I always walk in front of him. But that makes it really hard to take pictures of my little budding Cowboy. I finally got them to walk away from me. It didn't take much effort but Little Cowpoke was being kind of silly that day. And yes my child is wearing a muscle shirt and shorts in January. And yes, that is green grass. Craziness. They then turned back to the middle. I have a really hard time trying to get Little Cowpoke to walk the entire way around the pen. Now, if you put barrels in front of the child, he will know exactly what to do, but with nothing to ride around he gets confused about riding on "the rail". They stopped in the middle and Little Cowpoke turned him around and declared that he was finished riding. I think he was in the saddle a total of 8 minutes. So, I told him he had to at least give Peanut a pat for being so dang good. And that was it. I tacked up Peanut and warmed him up for a total of 30 minutes for a ride that was over in 8 minutes. At least Peanut got out and was "worked" for a bit. And at least Little Cowpoke did a little riding. Some time in the saddle is better than no time. I need to get on Peanut and ride him around for about a week and then I will feel better about my Cowpokes getting up on him. I just always think that cooler winter weather, plus horse, equals energy. But Peanut sure doesn't seem to follow that equation, and I am happy for that.