Boy, I have gone soft!

Went to a great trail clinic yesterday... more of a get together of some horsie gals with our horses. Anyway, I took Mia.

I took Mia 160 miles. From her stall to Maryanne's house. There she waited while I went to class and came back and cleaned stalls (and cooed at her to settle down and eat something) until almost five. After that we left back to Bend to get some fuel before I realized I left my change purse (and so my money) at home. Crap.

So we go out to the clinic. I had to call Keith in for an emergency fuel up. Meanwhile Mia and I got there first, and I unloaded her and walked her around for a bit. Nothing exciting, she was settling in just fine...

Until...

Anotherhorsearrived!!! Dun dunnn.

No, she did fine. She was obviously nervous (I can always tell because she doesn't seem to put her weight on her legs - she mini dances). I was trying to pay attention to what the trainer lady was saying to the other horse's owner - my mistake.

Anyway, after twenty minutes or so of Mia doing her own thing trainer lady takes over with her (I praised God).

I realized then how soft I've gone. I'm the horse owner I hate! When I'm training a horse, it's not hard at all for me to just expect the right answers. I turn said horse over to owner and 80% of the time it falls apart. It takes months for the owners to learn how to correctly ask for their horse's attention and respect.

I am that owner! Lord, what have I done to poor Mia? No wonder everything's going slow - I'm sloppy and inconsistent!

I thought I was going to learn a lot about Mia going to this clinic, instead I learned a lot about myself! I'm off to the barn to practice with new-found vigor. We will go over that bridge next week!

Oh yeah, and I didn't get home until sometime after 9:30... way too late for me to be hauling a horse around. Mia was starved because she didn't want to eat all day, so she just ate breakfast and a few handfuls of equine senior (calories) I was able to get down her throughout the day. She refused to eat hay at Maryanne's but was snatching at the grass near the end of the clinic so I could tell she had settled down a bit. What a day for us both!