Coupe vs China

The last two days I have been able to ride both Coupe and China.  Super proud of China considering she has had the last couple of months off and she acted like she never was put up for a day.  Have to love the easy ones.  It is also kind of amazing to me to ride two young horses and get to see the difference between two very different movers and thinkers. It's super hard to explain.  I tried yesterday to explain to Tim.

Riding Coupe is like riding in a big luxury sedan with loads of struts and shock absorbers.  He's got a very smooth jog that gives you that awesome rocking back and forth sensation.  He's slow and lazy.  Lazy is better than crazy any day but it is a lot of leg work to make him go and move.  He's loving but in a "what cha got for me and can I be done" kind of way.  He is also at the point where he is very concerned about China and where she is standing and when he can go back to being ignored by her in the pasture instead of ignored by her in the barn.  And he's round.  There is a big round horse under you, with a big butt behind and you can feel it.  Maybe he's more like a surburban?

Riding China is like riding a fine sports car.  She is not a speed horse by any means.  But she's got this suspension to her stride that is so incredible.  It's like riding a horse that floats.  If you have trouble feeling the diagonal, ride China, you will find it every single time.  She definitely feels more like a hunt horse, big long stride with her lanky legs.  Not much for a barrel on her, yet.  She does have some halter horses in her pedigree, so it could be coming.  She is only 2. And she has a hip on her.  Despite the fact that she's got a couple inches on Coupe height wise, she feels smaller because she is narrower.  She isn't a fast horse, but she is not lazy either.  So much try in her.  She tries to anticipate what you might ask and be ready to please as soon as possible.  She is a complete sweetheart, think golden retriever.  It's impossible to get angry with her.  I guess she's a Corvette?

I'm always very proud of both of them.  Today I threw something completely new at China.  I tried to kill two birds with one stone and pony Kuzco off of China so they both got some exercise.  I like using mares to pony so that they kind of keep the sassy young ones in their place.  Apparently China took that role seriously as she pinned her ears, bared her teeth and went after Kuzco.  I quickly got after her and she quit, kind of disgusted with me as she didn't get to finish putting him in his place.  We went to walk off and Kuzco, terrified now, didn't move.  He planted his four feet like a little pull toy and my arm started to stretch out of it's socket.  So I had to back China up to get him to move.  Unfortunately China thought I meant back into him and kick him.  So I had to get after her again.  So I decided it was time to go back a step.  I had to dismount, walk backwards and walk them both, side by side around the round pen for a lap or two, getting after China any time she even laid an ear back, before they agreed to get along.  Then it was back up and around we went a couple more laps.

Long story short - it was a success story, just more of a project than I thought it would be.  Sometimes I overestimate how things should go.  But surprisingly, they always seem to step up in the long run.