Bronco Bob

I finally rode Bobby yesterday. I think the last time he was ridden was shortly after the Morgan Showtime show in June, so the boy was a bit rough around the edges to say the least. I plan on riding him throughout the winter just to keep his mind in the right direction and his body somewhat in shape.

Anyway, our ride yesterday was light. I put a close contact hunt saddle on him and we just kind of trotted around the ring. We did some slow trotting and sped up to a nice tempo just to kind of work on pacing and also to get us working a bit harder. I used to always always always lunge Bobby before riding. As I've mentioned, he's a bit of a buckaroo bonsai when he's got energy, so I lunged as an extra precaution. Lately, though I've been lazy and have just been hopping right on. Yesterday, he had a bit of a pep in his step and even gave a crabby little head tossed when asked to move out at the trot. I knew he was going to try and pull something at the canter, so when I asked for it, I prepared myself to correct whatever he tried pulling. The first canter felt a bit funny, like he was bouncing or pushing off a bit more off his hind end. I asked Barn Owner what he was doing and she said "he's doing a half assed buck. He'd like to really give you a ride, so stop him, get his attention and start over." I couldn't help but be amused by his naughty behavior, but I stopped him, and re-started as I was told. This time, he lowered his head and began to try out a real life Bronc move, but instead he tripped some over a bit of piled up arena dirt. Not expecting this, I came forward and the brim of my helmet knocked him in the high neck area as he corrected himself from the trip. HA! No more bucking from the bronco after that.

Barn Owner talked to me about possibly sending Bobby to a local Quarter Horse trainer. She mentioned that other Morgan trainers in the area have sent their naughty horses to this man, and he has -a-hem - straightened them out, if you know what I mean. I honestly think Bobby needs a good old fashioned bop in the head when he tries pulling the bucking nonsense, so hopefully this will work. I couldn't help wondering though - why are Morgan "trainers" sending their horses to a Quarter Horse trainer? Hmmm....kind of funny.