Ups and Downs

Rode Ben again today and well the title speaks for itself. He came when called which was a great relief to not have to tramp through the mud to get him. Watson wouldn't even come near me which is starting to frustrate me and worry me a little. Ben had his daily carrots and i quickly tacked him up. He's not shedding so much which is a relief for my clothes. I took him right out to the field cause I really wanted to start riding. He was actually amazing when i rode. We trotted a lot of circles and loops before I asked him for the canter. He went into the canter like the old pro he is. After about the 2nd twenty meter circle he decided he wouldn't stop. HE started going faster and eventually I just got tired of it. I slowly made the circles smaller until he was cantering what I guessed to be a ten or fifteen meter circle. It was pretty darn small. After that I set up a small cross rail to see if he'd pop over it nicely. He did and he landed on his correct right lead!. I am so so so so proud of him. That is his difficult lead. I popped him over the jump about twice more before trotting him in a few more circles and taking him in.

Now here is where the downs come in. He was following me around the corral, his reins over his neck. They are split reins so when he stretches his neck out enough they can fall off. I was talking to my mom as he walked along behind me. I turned back to look at him and noticed like a second too late. One of the reins slipped off his neck and he stepped on it. He yanked his head up and of course something had to break. The side of the bridle snapped in half. My awesome leather western bridle is broken! I was so mad at myself. We got the bridle from an old friend who is now dead. If we don't get it fixed we just lost something to remind us of him. Plus, plus, Ben's mouth had a little blood in it. God, I am such and idiot.

Thankfully mom wasn't too mad. We're gonna take the bridle in the get fixed and I'm always gonna remember how dumb i am. Plus I have to figure out whats going on in Watson's head. Fun fun fun.