Lil' Richard Part Two...

Yesterday, it was not my intent to take Lil' Richard out again, but it was still soooo muddy everywhere that I thought I'd just take him out for about an hour and ride him to get the mail.

The day before the temperature was nearly 70 here.  Yesterday, it was only 50 with a bit of a cold breeze.  I got Lil' Richard out and took him to the round pen. He rolled and then got up and bucked tossing his head.
This is his normal routine before I curry him and work a bit with him.

After a few minutes of a refresher course, I tried a different saddle on him.  It is super light weight. He really had to sniff it all over as Siera had been the last one wearing it.

It met his Majesty's approval and we saddled up and then worked on trying the bit out again.  I let him wear the bridle for a while and then swapped back to using a rope tied to his halter.

It was a good thing I'd used the saddle.  Lil' Richard enjoyed the fresh cool air and was a LOT more lively.  He pranced and bounced when we went outside.  He was not ready to listen quite yet. We had to stop and go back to the basics.

So we did a bit more of walk, trot, whoa, on a long line and then he stopped and sighed.
He got to spend a bit of time at the thinking tree in the yard too while I changed coats.

We proceeded to ride up and down the driveway and take the challenge of going through some muddy areas.  
Funny, he has no problem running through mud and puddles on his own, but with a rider ... the mud looks like pony swallowing muck!

He wanted so badly to just take off and run up the driveway, but I convinced him that he needed to turn around and listen to me.

I could see it in his arched neck that he was full of it. One of the mistakes people make about ponies is that they assume that all ponies are good for kids.  
This pony will never be a kid pony. 

His rider will always need to know what they are doing and have good balance.

We did ride to the ridge and get the mail, but on my terms, of course.  We rode past screeching children, a barking dog that ran under his belly and all sorts of noises.
He actually ignored them and had his eye on the ridge.

Funny, I think he believes he is going visiting each time we ride up there.  He is extremely willing to take on the long hill.  He never fusses either when we just stop and get the mail.

Since my driveway is so steep, I lead him back down.  I didn't want the saddle to slide up on his neck.  

Lil' Richard is just a fun little project for me and we won't be doing long hard rides.  He just isn't big enough for that.

Hubby came out and I asked him to take a photo of me and The Big Guy.

I have to admit, he is a fun little moped!

He probably would be fun to have on a cart, but I have no harness and no cart so we shall be content on getting the mail, and little fun yard rides.

Just look at this face?  Doesn't it say..."Look at me!  I may be small, but I have attitude and cunning! I'm a bit of a devil!"

Happy Trails.  And many adventures getting the mail.