“You better be on your best behavior,” I said.
“I will do my best,” he said with a mock bow. “What other chores do we have?”
“None. I figured we could see what was going on with Tigger. Your next competition is in a few days,” I told him.
“Yeah, let’s work with Tigger,” he said, his face lighting up.
We walked to the stable together. Halfway there, he grabbed my hand, and I didn’t pull mine back in protest. Rodrigo gave us a look as he spotted our hands before we entered the stable and let go.
I shot him a look that said,I don’t want to hear a word about this.
He smiled at me and went back to assisting the farrier.
We pulled Tigger out of his stall, and Athena was not happy about being separated.
I let her graze in the pasture next to the dirt arena. She stayed close to the fence line to watch Tigger.
“Okay. So run through the course but take it easy. Walk or trot it if you need to.”
Riley nodded at me and asked Tigger to trot through the course. The horse did so, happily taking the course at an easy pace. I had them run through the course the same way several more times.
“Reward him,” I said.
Riley’s hand ran over Tigger’s neck right under his mane.
“Now pick up the speed, but don’t push him too far. We are going to work him up to where he needs to be.”
Riley moved Tigger back to the starting line, and they were off again, running the course a little faster. Around the last turn, Tigger froze up. Riley looked like he wanted to dig his heel into Tigger’s side to get him moving.
“Don’t,” I told him in warning. “Get out of the saddle.”
“Why?” Riley asked.
“I want to try something,” I said.
Riley slid out of the saddle, and I stuck my foot in the stirrup and swung my leg up and over. I picked up the reins and led Trigger to the starting line.
Riley hit the button and Tigger and I took off. Tigger turned beautifully through the first two barrels, and at the third, I felt his hesitation. I placed a soothing hand on his shoulder and leaned with him as he went around the turn. He kept his footing as I kept pressure on his shoulder. He then raced back to the finish line.
I went through the course, again and again with Tigger. I still felt the hesitation each time he approached the third barrel, but he stayed the course with the correct body language and pressure.
“What is it?” Riley asked after our tenth time running the course.
“He’s scared,” I told Riley.
“Scared?”
“Yes, something about the last barrel scares him. He’s going to need some work to get over it. Do you see the hesitation in his footing when we approach the last barrel?”
“Now that I am on the ground, yes, I do.”
“We will have to work with him, to get him comfortable with racing again. Sometimes an injury can spook a horse. We just need to help him through it.”
“We won’t get him there before the competition, will we?” Riley asked.
“I don’t think so,” I added.
“I will let the coordinator know that we are dropping out,” he said, sounding a little defeated.
