Friday, I rode Blondie.  I was little alarmed when M said that she hasn't been acting like herself, but she seemed like her usual surly self when I was getting her ready.  Maybe she's not ready for the hot, humid weather that has been plaguing us lately.  D thinks that maybe it's her shoes, so maybe she'll be getting a pedicure soon.

The lesson was pretty unremarkable.  We had our usual problem getting the canter the second way of the ring.  In fact, we never got it at all, so we reversed, and she stepped right into it.  I was using too much snaffle rein, which was turning her head upside down, so I worked at using the curb rein instead.  I still have a problem manipulating the reins without adjusting the length. 

After the lesson, Blondie was covered with sweat, so she got a little sponge bath in her stall.  Then, I had to try to re-braid her tail, because her sock was missing, and the braid was coming out.  Her tail was a tangled mess.  I had watched Laurie braid tails at the horse show, so I tried to remember her instructions and gave it a shot.  When I got to the end, I didn't know what to do.  Lucky for me, Kim and her mom showed up at just that moment, and I received another tail braiding lesson.

After tucking the braided tail into a purple sock, I started getting her tail set back on.  It's such a pain, and the stupid horse decided to roll in a mound of poop, so her blanket and the fittings for the set are just covered with horse sh!t.  Yuck.  M had to help me get her girdle, as I like to call it, back on, because I forgot what buckled where. I  finally finished getting her put back together and was able to leave at about 7:45.  Friday was a long day!

Before I left, M showed me the pictures that Jen picked for the ad in Saddle Horse Report.  She told me that I was going to get a picture credit, too.  If I do say so myself, the pictures were really cute!