the clueless american

Well, we got exactly what we've been hoping to get out of our horseback riding lessons: today we went out alone! Now, we weren't 100% alone because the owner stayed about 1/4 mile away in her truck keeping an eye on us, but for all intents and purposes we were by ourselves for an hour today.

We're far from being even advanced riders--heck, we don't even gallop--but we can show up, tack our own horses, take them on a 1-hour ride, and then put them up when we're done. That's a great feeling! The instructor says we're ready to move up to cantering soon, so I guess it's back to the drawing board as far as balance is concerned. In any event, we had a great time today and look forward to a real "solo" where the teacher doesn't even leave the stable.

Well, the honeymoon is definitely over for Lulu and me! (and no, I don't mean "I" but thanks!)

Before e comes at me with a hacksaw, let me explain that Lulu is the horse I've been happily riding for almost 3 months now. The woman who trains us said that Lulu had been working unusually well with me and that we looked good together. My first sign of trouble came 2 weeks ago when we went out on a windy day. Lulu was not herself that day, but the trainer kept assuring me that it was because Lulu didn't like the wind in her eyes. I said ok and figured things would be better on the next ride. We then had several days off because of the water troubles, and when we went back riding again last Thursday I had to fight Lulu the whole way. She wanted to trot or stop, but never walk, which is something I've never encountered before. It's really hard to enjoy a ride when the person who owns the horse doesn't even know how to control it. She says I'll be riding e's horse for a few days until we can fix whatever's ailing Lulu.

Not much else is going on. My replacement gets here in less than 2 months, and we can't believe it's already almost over! Although we're excited to be going back to the US, we will miss the friends and the time we had here in Spain. Oh well, it's too early to get that sentimental; we've still got 4 months here.

Oh yeah, how could I forget? My new BMW is in Jerez just waiting on the registration paperwork to be finalized. It should be here in Murcia by the end of next week!

Yeah, that's me, apparently. Cindy thinks I must have some sort of anxiety that's throwing Lulu off, because lately I can't seem to ride her. Lulu is the horse I started riding back in January. I got very confident on her and even had a solo ride on her in February. Then, after a short break for one holiday or another, I got back on Lulu and everything had changed. She gets very agitated when I'm on her and only wants to do either a stuttering trot or stop. Walking is just about impossible. After this happened to me a few times, Cindy told me that Lulu was getting a little scatty with everyone and might need some time off, but every time we saw another rider at Cindy's, Lulu looked just fine.

Cindy wound up schooling me on Bonnie a few weeks and then switching me over to Sorpresa, a larger, more powerful horse that I'd only ridden once before. Riding Sorpresa has been going fairly well; I cantered on her twice this week. When I went out on Thursday it was threatening rain, which meant we wanted to stay in the school close to the stables. That also meant I was on Lulu because Sorpresa doesn't do well in confined spaces.

When I first got on Lulu she was very agitated and walking fast. After about 10 minutes we decided that the saddle needed to be adjusted, and when I got back on everything was better. Lulu gave me a great walk and a few steady trots. When Cindy took away my stirrups to help me practice my balance, Lulu went nuts again. Every time I walked her on she immediately broke into a trot. When I gently tugged the reins a little to slow her, she abruptly halted. I tried sitting back more, taking away the reins, even closing my eyes and thinking relaxing thoughts (Cindy's idea) to help calm Lulu down. Nothing worked, and after 15 minutes Cindy jumped on Lulu and spent the next 15 minutes trying to calm her. At the end of 15 minutes Lulu was a little calmer but still tried to break into a trot every few seconds. I was glad to see that it wasn't only me, but I wish we didn't have to go through this in the first place. It's hard for me to comprehend that now I can't even do a supervised walk with the horse that I took out by myself over 3 months ago!