Peevish Pen: Melody Rides Again!

Actually, Melody is ridden again. But not by me.

Melody, my 18-year-old Tennessee Walker, hadn’t been ridden for a few years. She’s so big and I’m in such lousy shape that I have trouble mounting up. Plus she’s still pretty frisky.

So, she hadn’t been ridden for a couple of years. Until today.

I was watching the noon news when I looked out the sliding glass door to see a horse standing in the lower driveway. It was Doc, my cousin Mary’s quarterhorse. Mary was holding Doc’s leadshank. He had a stiff leg and she couldn’t ride, so she’d walked him down the road.

We took Doc out to see Melody and Cupcake. Melody showed off for him and was quite a handful–squealing, pawing, etc.

I mentioned to Mary that I was thinking about getting a trainer to ride Melody a few times to see how she’d do. Mary said, “I’ll ride her.”

While Mary walked Doc back to his pasture, I tacked up Melody. It took me a few minutes to find a girth to fit her—Cupcake’s was way too short. Would she let me saddle her?

She did. No problem. Then I had to find her bridle. Luckily it was in a plastic box, so it was clean and not rat-chewed.

Before I bridled Mel, Mary was back. We didn’t have any problem bridling. Then we walked her to the front pasture, so she’d be away from Cupcake and the dogs.

She was a little reluctant walking there. (“But it’s naptime!” Melody might have said.) I carried a lounge line, just in case. The wind was blowing the pines hard. But Melody stood still while Mary, younger and more agile than I am, mounted from the ground with no problem.

And then they walked off. Melody chewed her bit—I think it’s a little too loose—but went fine.

She looked great. I’d forgotten how pretty Melody can move.

Now Mary has a standing invitation to ride Melody. She gets a usable horse to ride on her days off, my mare gets worked, and I’ll have to try to get in shape to ride her myself one of these days.