How Cupid got his Groove Back

Cupid and I had a few rides that felt a little mediocre.  I didn't even notice at first.  He wasn't misbehaving, in fact he was being very good.  He didn't feel like he was hurting.  But he just seemed a little flat, there was a little spark missing.  It wasn't until after I saw my trainer riding him, then I had another ride, that I even put it together.  So I gave him a day off, and then tried to make sure we vary our rides a little so he doesn't get bored.  Even just warm up different, start asking him to do a little leg yielding or serpentines sooner instead of starting out just walking along the rail each direction.  Also canter a little earlier, more stretchy trot circles because he seems to like that.

We had a few really good rides, where Cupid was very responsive and forward and just seemed happy to do his job.  But then on Sunday when I was supposed to have a jump lesson he was a little too forward!  He hadn't felt rushy in a long time so it scared me a little.  He actually didn't do anything bad just was quicker than usual.  So my trainer lowered all the jumps so I can focus on the stuff in between rather than the jumps themselves and we did several full courses.  Once I was able to relax Cupid was very good!

I've since noticed that he is shedding.  Summer isn't really over yet, but the days are getting shorter.  I've joked before that he has seasonal affective disorder, he does tend to get a little funny when the seasons change!

Yesterday I went to the arena for my lesson, and all the jumps were stacked because I think they were doing maintenance on the arena.  I saw the big empty arena and the white plastic barrels that we use as jump fillers, and of course I thought about setting up a barrel pattern!  I told my trainer, and she said we can use the barrels.  But not race them, lol.  We did various patterns around the barrels, practicing 20 meter circles and smaller circles, straight lines and turns, and some shoulder fore and leg yielding.  The same things we do generally, but in a different way so it felt fresh.  I hope Cupid enjoyed it too!

This morning I was thinking about lunging, but I had left my equipment in the trailer and didn't have the key.  So instead I hopped on Cupid bareback and we had a nice stroll around.  He was very good, except did try to stop and eat a few times!  There is a spiky plant he seems to like eating, but I worry he will cut himself or worse get a thorn stuck in his gums or something.  He did have a little startle when an automatic gate along the driveway started opening right when we passed it, but he quickly realized it wasn't anything to be worried about.