Grumpy

I decided not to try riding after being out of the country for a week. I had talked to Amanda about training rides while I was gone and we decided that since we were done with the show season there was no urgency to keep him in work. He got a vacation while I flew to Germany for work for a week. I came out to see him on Sunday just as he was going into turn out and he wanted nothing to do with me. So I gave him a couple of cookies and opted to see him on Monday.

When he saw me on Monday night, he whinnied and then acted like he wasn't sure he wanted anything to do with me. As I was putting the halter on him, he raked his teeth across my forearm, just a slight touch of teeth in warning. That worried me, since he usually only snaps when he's uncomfortable or in pain. I checked him for swelling or injuries and there was nothing, and he walked out of his stall sound. I led him around to the tie rack and began to groom him. He was swishing his tail, pinning his ears and swinging his body around a lot while I was trying to groom him. I finally got a bit tired of the antics and raised my voice. He immediately tensed and threw his head up like I was going to beat him.

I paused and really looked at him. Then I said "you were magnificent at the show and I was so proud of how well you and I did on our test. You were such a good boy and tried so hard for me and we looked so very good while we were doing it. I quit the show because of the wind, not because of you, and because I wasn't having a good time." While I was talking I was scratching his neck, withers, belly and cheeks, running my hands across his body in soothing arcs.

He gave a huge sigh and relaxed into the touch.

I think he was blaming himself for our not completing the show, even though the wind blew over the portopotty. I went on to tell him that we were going to continue working with Amanda on our dressage and that there was lots for us to learn, plus maybe we would do an endurance race or two next year. He seemed agreeable.  

I had a great ride. We worked on our normal stuff. We ended our ride doing 10m figure 8 circles with a canter-halt-canter transition one handed off our seat. He was so good.