When we got up this morning it didn’t seem like it was going to rain. Thankfully it only started after my riding lesson and after we watched the team cow penning competition at the LA Equestrian Center. It was plenty cold though, except while I was riding.
Rode a horse called Wisconsin today. He’s a very reliable horse over jumps. His only fault is that he tends to be lazy at first but after he warms up he’s like a puffing steam engine and trots around the arena a little faster than necessary. We did the usual warm up trot and canter in circles and in different directions. Then did an exercise intended to make us sharper: we trotted over a cross-rail then halted for 5 seconds. Then picked up a working trot, went over another cross-rail , then halted before the oxer. It was a great exercise and caused both Wisconsin and I to think every step of the way. The next exercise was similar but involved cantering over an oxer then immediately downward transition into a trot to go over a cross-rail, halt. Pick up a canter then go over a cross-rail. The hardest part for me was the downward transition to the trot. It’s much easier to keep cantering. It’s also difficult to get a working trot or canter on short notice but that was easier than the downward transition. I didn’t expect that.
After my lesson we walked over to the arena where the Cattle Bowl team penning competitions were taking place. To my pleasant surprise, Dave really enjoyed watching the competition. He’s only interested in horses vicariously. I always expect him to be bored at competitions. He does get bored at jumping competitions. We only left the cattle penning event because we were both freezing. These harsh southern California winters….
The way team penning works is that three riders are assigned three cows to cut out of a herd of about 30 then drive them into a pen at the other end of the arena. The fastest time wins. The action is fast and furious. The horses have to be very agile, stopping quickly and turning an animal smaller than itself. The riders mostly have to just stay on if there horse has lots of “cow”. I don’t like seeing riders jerking their horses faces around and spurring them. Most horses zero on the designated cow once they understand which one to go for, then they do all the work. When I played cow games on my horse Prince, I pointed him at a cow then let go of the reins and hung on the saddle horn, hoping I could stay with him. He knew a lot more about cows than I did. Someday when we have our own place, I’ll have my jumping horse and my cow horse. First I must graduate and get a job. Always first things first. Darn it!