Horse Update

Hi All
All of us here at Poodle Place appreciate most animals (certain rodents not included), but are particularly fond of horses. Baron has a lifelong wish to play with horses which is further evidence of his nonverbal learning disability.  He just doesn't understand size differences.  He is particularly motivated to hang out with horses because he recognizes the love his beloved employee (that would be me) has for them.

I actually had a riding lesson last week in which I learned 4 important things.
1) Do not get into a discussion of catastrophic equestrian accidents in the middle of a lesson; this impairs concentration (never my strong suit).
2) When your trainer, after her beloved student decided not to jump the 2nd jump in a line at the last minute (response time also not a strength), wants to practice a quick turn after the first jump, do not, once again, turn away from the 2nd jump at the last minute.  This makes both horse and trainer very nervous.
3) When your trainer, in the interest of helping her beloved student (who by now is not so beloved) drills you on turning away from the problem while still avoiding the 2nd jump, do not turn in her direction.Trainers get really cranky when you turn towards them on a cantering horse. To be fair, my trainer said, "Didn't you see me standing here against the wall?"  I did see her, but didn't understand why she was standing there putting her life in jeopardy.  It never occurred to me to turn towards the center of the ring.  I thought my trainer was being foolhardy.
4) The horse who accompanied me on the aforementioned unfortunate incident earned extra treats.  The trainer earned either a bottle of wine or a bloody Mary at the next barn lunch, in addition to an increase in her life insurance policy!
All for now,
Botswain