An Interesting Ride

This Saturday I brought my tack out to the barn since I was dying to ride. I wasn't really sure where we'd be able to ride, but I figured I could at least doodle around in the pasture for a bit. After currying off the 200 lbs of mud caked on Kwik, I tacked up, and we walked up to the pasture. There wasn't anywhere really flat enough to lunge him for a bit first, so I just got right on (mistake #1 since he hadn't been ridden in over 2 weeks). There was a lot going on (mistake #2). Someone at the farm next door was making all kinds of noise with a backhoe, cars were whizzing by, the AT&T guy was tinkering with something along the fence line, and evening feeding had begun. Kwik was pretty good walking around initially, but he became a little more concerned about the goings on (probably because I was getting more and more nervous). All of a sudden he bucked 3 or 4 times. I was able to sit it out and bring him back into a walk. I walked him around the top of the pasture a few more times, hopped off, and walked back to the barn. Right before the neighbors began target shooting. Sheesh.

Now this random bucking thing is not new. If he hasn't been worked in a while, he will do a very strange "rocking horse" buck-like maneuver when I first ask for the canter (in either direction). It's not really a defiant "I want to remove you" buck. It's more of a "holy crap I'm really stiff and I need to get my body working right before you ask me to really work" buck. Once I get him under control, put back together, and ask again, he canters along like a perfect gentleman. Because this has happened a few times, I have made a point to lunge or free lunge him in a round pen first before riding after time off. Usually he will buck in each direction (with and without tack) and then settle in. Usually I don't have a problem riding him after lunging, and if I ride him again the same week, we don't have a problem (even without lunging first). I'm not going to worry too much right now since I'm not able to work him consistently in his temporary home. When we move on the 26th, he will go back into regular work, and I'm thinking this may help. Plus, he could really benefit from some chiropractic work, so I'll set that up when he's all settled in.

Even though we had some hiccups, it was fun to sit on my boy again. That, and I managed to stay on! Can't wait to ride for reals in a few weeks!

I swear I wasn't TRYING to buck you off!