Piaffe, Rein back

And a Rotten Pony.

We had about 30min  to hop on and work the 3 rideable horses. Mom got DaVinci, my sister got Dottie and I got Rosemary. I was a little behind them tacking because I had to put Rosemary's bit back on her bridle after harness try out the other day. This resulted in Mom and my sister mounting before me and Rosemary having a snit.
She went all barn monitor on me and started calling. At the mounting block, which is inside the barn, she stood as I got on then decided herself that it was time to go. Uh, no pony. Time for a discussion.
I told Mom to go head out.
All I wanted was for Rosemary to stand, four feet on the ground not moving until I say move. We almost got it a couple times, but not quite. Rosemary would pull towards the door and I would make her circle. I would tell her to stand and she would piaffe. Not too bad a rhythm either. Then her best move yet, I circled her and stopped her facing away from the door. That pony backed her butt right out the door. You teach them stuff and they eventually use it against you.
I walked her right back into the barn. A few more circles and piaffes later she finally stood still. She then tried to trot out to the arena, so we did more tight circles. I rode her away from the other two until she quit pulling their way. With about 10 min left, we did a little trot work in the longer grass. I read somewhere that long grass is similar to pole work. By the end of my ride time she did relax and stretch down. Whew! Much more exciting than I expected.
It was more of a mental work out for Rosemary, but still a good lesson. She is too damn smart for her own good sometimes, but never boring.