Almost as soon as I was cleared for riding, a cold front, followed by days of rain, followed by more cold, swept through Texas.

I managed to get a couple of lessons on Calida, the absolute best lesson horse in the world, but I was dreaming of golden ponies.

Yesterday I asked C. if I could ride Griffy for my lesson. She said sure!

I was excited – so was he! I think probably more for the pre-ride alfalfa, but you know, I’ll take what I can get.

I saddled him up, watching carefully for any signs of anxiety. He was calm. I led him into the smaller arena, and let him graze for a bit. C. came in & we chatted while he browsed.

I felt kind of silly – like, he’s my Gryphon. It’s fine. I should tell C. she could go do something else. He’s calm, he’s grazing. No worries.

Yeah. Then I got on.

I felt the flood of fear through my body from my head to my toes. I’m sure Griffy felt it too, but one word came into my head and I clung to it like a drowning woman reaching for a raft –

BREATHE.

Loose reins. Loose body. Breathe. It’s fine. He’s fine. Breathe.

Whyishewalkingsofastwhatsoverthereohgodhisearsareupwhatsgoingtohappenishegoingtorun

BREATHE.

In my efforts to stay relaxed I wasn’t really holding the reins, which was fine until he marched over to a mare just outside the rail and shoved his face into hers. She politely objected to this by halfway climbing the fence and trying to murder him (which, to be honest, I couldn’t blame her for.) He spooked and rushed forward while I frantically scrambled to pick up the reins.

He got a safe distance away and began grazing to calm himself while I hyperventilated (counts as breathing!) I was so close to getting off –

BREATHE.

I just waited. He didn’t really seem that upset. C. came over and very gently told me that from now on unless I was shooting, I should keep some measure of control on the reins in case I needed to direct him away from murderous mares. Seemed fair.

“Ok,” she said. “3 more bites, and then we’re going to ask him to walk off.”

Breathe.

He walked away with a little encouragement, and C. had us work on some figure 8’s, straight lines, and turns on the forehand, all at the walk.

At the end of it, I hopped off and told him what a wonderful good boy he was. He agreed.

Remember how I said we didn’t need her there? Ha. Hahaha.

Thank God she was there. Bringing us into work gave us something to focus on and helped us work through the nerves. I rode for a grand total of 11 minutes.

It might take us a bit, but I know we’ll get back to our groove. He’s still my boy. 💜