I don’t know if you know this about Texas, but in the summer, it’s fucking hot.

So this leaves two options for riding: In the dark, or ass o’clock. Riding in the dark is only possible if you are lucky enough to have a well-lit arena, which we have not ever had. J. tried to install a bunch of solar lights that ended up being really weak and just ended up creating a bunch of terrifying, shadowy, obviously lion-containing corners. And the arena there is tiny and hard and with all of Griffy’s lameness issues I didn’t like riding him in there at more than a walk.

Our current place, however, has 3 large arenas that are well-lit enough to probably not contain any lions, so C. came up with the idea of a midnight madness clinic.

I thought it would be fun for Griffy and I to do, so we signed up. As the day got closer, she laid out her plan – an obstacle course in the small arena, then a barrel pattern with swords in the middle arena, then mounted archery and postal course in the large arena. That…..is a lot. I told her I thought that might be too much for us, and she said we could just do it in hand. That seemed manageable.

I was particularly excited for the obstacle course – I helped C. judge a trail obstacle course earlier in the year and it looked really fun, all of us who came to help left the show wanting to try it. You enter through a cowboy curtain:

Then you had to stop at a bucket of ice water and get a sponge, walk to the other side of the arena to another bucket to drop off the sponge, walk over a tarp surrounded by poles:

You weave through poles, go through a temptation station that had two buckets of grain with carrots and apples, throw a water ballon, and walk through a chute. Everything had lights and glow sticks and it looked amazing!

Turnout ended up being amazing – we had I think 11 people? Not sure but it was a lot. I was the only one in hand. Everyone got to walk the course a bit before we got started. I knew Griffy would struggle a bit with the cowboy curtain – he hates things that make noise like that.

He did absolutely fantastic – some hesitation at the curtain, but with a lot of encouragement, enthusiastic good boys, and treats, he got through it. We went back and forth a few times before things got started. The only thing he absolutely would not do was the tarp. I think in the dark it looked like it might have water in the middle, and he was just not having it – I asked him twice, and he said a very firm no.

Since we were the only in-hand team, we went first. I had thought we’d go last….I got really in my head about being the only one on the ground. I feel like such a terrible horse person – everyone else seems to be able to ride, but I’m always scared or think I can’t handle it or…..whatever. If we could have left I would have, but too late. Anyway. One thing I’m usually good at is not making my emotions my horse’s problem, so I put my bullshit aside.

We got through the curtain and went to the bucket of ice water full of sponges. Griffy promptly stuck his nose in the bucket and began to splash around, which made everyone laugh. Dropped the sponge off and told C. we were gonna skip the tarp, so on to the weave poles. The temptation station was by far his favorite – the goal is for the horse to not eat anything while you take a carrot from one bucket to another. He helped himself to his own carrot, then didn’t want to leave. He had no issue with the water ballon ( you had to carry it, then throw it against a wall for points) and we finished walking through the lighted chute. There was a bit of hesitation there, but he got through it. Back through the curtain and we were done!

I am incredibly proud of him and how well he did. I think it was a great, out-of-the-box challenge for both of us. He was so brave, and he tried really hard. But man, the moment he was done….he was DONE. I think everything was overwhelming and he just got overstimulated and wanted to be out of there. I asked a friend to hold him a moment while I went to set up the Pivo, and she let M. and her mare get a little too close and there was a little dance. He doesn’t like other horses getting in his space. I took him back and we were standing in the arena just watching everyone. I offered to let him graze, and he turned and marched determinedly to the gate with such force I almost had to jog to keep up. If this had been a dressage test, that walk would have been 10/10, overtracking perfectly. We walked right through the gate and threw an ear in my direction like “I wish a bitch WOULD try to stop me,” and then got to a spot where we started grazing. I have never seen angry grazing before, but it was like every bite was a punctuation mark. “STUPID human (chomp) made me do STUPID obstacles (chomp) in the STUPID dark (chomp) with all these other STUPID horses (chomp chomp chomp)…I HATE IT HERE.” He was so mad at me when I said it was time to go he didn’t even do his usual “But moooom 5 more minutes protest” – he just walked vengefully back to the pasture.

No one can say Griffy talks quietly.

The next morning he had mostly forgiven me. I tacked him up and took him back to the obstacle course. I was going to do everything in hand again, but with tack to send the message that eventually we will do this under saddle. I thought he might be hesitant, but he walked right to the cowboy curtain and thoughtfully watched M. ride her mare through it a couple of times. He walked through it – he doesn’t love it, but with some encouragement he’ll do it. He got to look at all the obstacles again, and I could see him thinking “Oh, so THAT’S what that is!” We approached the tarp, got closer, but still unsure of it. I let him look and sniff, while I stood next to him and just breathed. I asked for a step forward, he said no, so we went to the temptation station and had an apple. Back to the tarp, got a bit closer. I asked for a step and he took it. Told him good boy, then we went to go throw a water balloon. One more time to the tarp, he was able to get right up to the pole. I asked him to step over. He hesitated, I gently urged him on, and he gave me that heart-melting look – “Ok, I’m not sure about this, but I trust you,” and took a step. He did not immediately disappear into a gaping abyss, so another step, and then a sniff, and then another step, and then we crossed it. The good boys rained down like dollar bills at a strip club, and he seemed very pleased. We did the tarp two more times, and by the third one he just cruised across it.

M and her mare had gone to the big arena, so we went back to the mid-sized one and I got on him. We had a nice, relaxed walk around the barrels. We got near the cowboy curtain and I asked if he’d like to try it under saddle. He said no, so we walked on. It was a super short ride – after about 8 minutes he said he’d like to be done, so I hopped off. Told him he was the best, bravest boy, because he is.

I know in my heart that being in-hand was the right choice. Thinking about it, he’s never been ridden at night, really – not for the last 5 years at least. He’s not settled in to our new place yet (it can take up to a year) and due to his lameness issues he really hasn’t traveled in the last 4 years. I know he would not have been able to be as brave if I had been on his back. However it made me feel, what matters is making the right choice for him.