We decided to take Levi to the riding club for his first Tuesday playday. This is huge, as the arena is new, it is right next to a busy road, there are lots of new horses, it is outdoors and they use a loud speaker. I was feeling pretty confident that he was ready for this, so off we went.
I walked him in the arena before the events started. Each person does three events with their horse. I was just planning on walking Levi through the courses. He started out great.
As we rounded the barrels at the end of the first course, he decided to get a bit frisky. I had it under control though.
Then when we got in front of the bleachers, he spooked and was off and running. I did my best to 'hang on'. At some point, I was horizontal with the ground, then I was on the ground. Yep. I am forever grateful for 6 inches of arena sand, so no, I did not get hurt. The gates were quickly blocked and Levi settle back down. If you ever want to see the video, let me know. It is pretty hilarious.
After that, I had two events to go. I was a bit nervous, but knew I could not end on that note. Sid took Levi to the round pen and let him get his nerves out. Then we went in for course #2. I could hear my heart beating in my ears, but I did a lot of deep breathing and tried to keep my cool. I could sense Levi was picking up on my nerves, as he seemed a bit nervous too, but we made it.
By the time course #3 came around, we had both settled down, and he was back to his calm self. It was a reminder to me that he is still a baby, and I need to remember that. He did great though. He won my internal award for easiest horse to load and unload in the trailer.
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