Confidence

Ever since Ozzie got back from the trainer, I have been working on building my confidence. It's strange because I don't mind riding some horses, but other horses just get my hands sweaty. Ozzie is just one of those horses. He gets my hands sweaty just thinking about riding him and he gets my heart to beat a bit faster. Not as in "love" faster, but as in nerves. The trainer that had him did a lot of work with him. He finally got Ozzie to slow down and listen to the rider. Which was a big issue for me. That was really nerve wrecking when you are riding a horse that you know is just being nice because he wants to and will blow up if you ask him to do something that he doesn't want to do. I think Ozzie is a lot happier of a horse now. He actually understands what the rider wants. He is really smart too. A bit too smart. He tries to out think the rider. He tries to guess what comes next before I ask him to do it. I have had to change a lot of ways that I do things because they were just becoming habit for Ozzie. He would trot two circles in the round pen and then stop and look at me and start to change direction with out me even asking. He just knew that was going to come next. So, I have changed a lot of things that I do with him. The other day, I free jumped him. Just to see if he would like it. And that horse put all the try into jumping. I don't have an ideal set up for free jumping, so I just had a small cross rail with a ground pole set up in our round pen. Having the jump set up made Ozzie pay attention. He stayed steady with his pace and figured out a good departure spot and would jump. Some were better than others, but he did do a really good job. Even with his skinny little Thoroughbred butt. I can't wait to get the panels done in the arena and I can do some real free jumping with him. See what he can do. Ozzie really has the type of personality that wants to work. He just wants to do something. And I really hope that jumping will be his thing. In the meantime, I have been feeling better and better about riding him. I feel more in control and a lot more comfortable. Mr. Cowboy asked me if I was ready to ship him off to Houston to be sold, and I told him to give me a little more time with him. He really is a sweet boy and I want to make sure he knows his stuff before sending him off to someone else. Oh, and did anyone see my hideous half chaps. A while back my good friend ordered some just like mine but in black. They were all of 16 bucks on sale. They looked cool in black. So, when I went to order them they only had them in brown. I didn't think they would be too bad looking. But when I got them in, they were pretty funky. My friend and I made fun of them all the time. We loved how tacky they looked. We would joke about getting some pretty flowers embroidered on them. So, one day I went out and did this to them. Don't you just love it? But these lovely half chaps help me feel a bit more secure too. I am hoping with just a little more time Ozzie and I will be doing a lot better. And maybe we will even ride outside the round pen!!