Riding in the dark

I planned to go to a friends indoor arena to ride, but my *%#*% trailer lights weren't working. I just had them fixed (well, obviously, not really). So, bound and determined, I asked my little mare if she'd play with me in the dark. She said she would. :-)

So, I took her into the arena after just a few mins of warm up on the ground and practiced riding with 1 carrot stick. We practiced canter departs bridleless, lots of bridleless transitions, and large canter circles. We played with the figure-8 pattern as well. She did scoot out under me a couple times when something caught her attention from behind, but really she did fine riding with me in the dark. The interesting thing was much more I could feel of her because I didn't have my sight! I couldn't easily see if I was on teh right diagonal or not, if she was irritable or not, I had to feel it out. That was great for me!

Then, I put her back with the others and took Cowboy out. Tacked him up and took him out to play. He was worried! He tried, but honestly, he kept his eye on the barn. Because he couldn't protect his 2 mares? Because he new that's where safety was? I didn't get a chance to ride him because Delaney came out and needed me. However, it took quite a while of groundwork to get him into a rideable place. He didn't canter online well, either. He bucked and ran off a couple times. I was able to get him to realize that was unnecessary, and we got some nice cantering online. I think his canter reactions are fear-based - he was a worried horse.

I have a couple horses that need my attention on their hooves. I'm now trimming 5. It's just too many. I think I need to get a trimmer out to help me at least with part of my herd.