Stiff, and how I love Oscar

Well I was feeling even crapper (is that a word) on Monday so I went to bed early.  Tuesday was better so after work I headed out to the barn and got ready to ride. 

First off for all the training barns Oscar has been in, he HATES blankets sometimes.  You really can't tell when or if he will try to destroy them, but when he decided its done, its done.  Since September he's ruined a rain sheet, and yesterday his nylon sheet.  C won't let me put winter blankets on him yet, last winter was the first in 4 years that he wore a blanket for most of the winter so she wants him to have a decent hair coat just in case he decides that he would rather be naked half way though the winter!

Anyways after we had discussed the ripped sheet, I got Oscar tacked up.  He's done very little since last week and he had lots of energy on the lunge line.  Its hard with all of the mud lately for them to do much more than occasionally trot around so I like having this time for him to work out the 'kinks'.

So after we got him warmed up (and I did some streaches) I got the mounting block over and attempted to get on.... and he swung his hips out of the way so that he was too far from the mounting block.  Well I had let him moving around last time slide, so it was partly my fault, but I got down and made him work a little bit on the ground (turns on the haunch/forehand) before setting him back up at the mounting block.  And he was fine at that point, but that was the way the entire ride went.  A little bit of resistance then he would give in and move on to the next issue.

I could feel my body get stiffer and stiffer as the ride went on though, but Oscar kept on trucking for me.  He's only "comment" was to pin his ears when my upper body and hips got too stiff, which was a visual reminder to me to loosen up. 

I can completely see why Lucas was getting so frustrated with me, where as Oscar just keeps going on auto pilot, Lucas would be trying to figure out what I wanted, and would get frustrated when he couldn't figure it out.

I feel bad that I was always sending him horribly mixed messages though my body, but at the same time I couldn't help it.  And both Oscar and Lucy managed to do there jobs and block out my movements/stiffness that didn't mean anything.  I guess that's what makes good therapy horses as well.  Some horses can forgive a riders movements that are not directed twords them, and some can't.