Seventh lesson today. Joanne was back. Apparently, she got kicked in the thigh by one of the ponies, and it's still sore. So other than lunging and standing in the arena teaching us, she can't ride for the moment.

For some reason, my scheduled pony was - once again! - Chico. -_- But after Joanne heard that, and that I've ridden Chico three times and Anna once, she decided to switch ponies: I got Misty, a sweet boy, and this young girl got Chico.

Misty has a slight cough, and a bit of a lung? problem. So the girth was not so tightly done, and I was as gentle with him as I could. He's extremely sweet, responding to the slightest squeeze of my ankles.

Warmed him up by walking a few times around the arena, staying on the track, where the sand was firmer. Then, Joanne wanted us to do the rising trot again. I was having a lot of problems with it, almost toppling over Misty's neck, or sliding sideways (most probably because of the looser girth). A few times, I even almost fell completely off. Once, I lost both my stirrups and had to stop him by squeezing with my thighs.

Joanne lunged me for a bit for trotting, but the centrifugal force kept making me slide to one side, making it harder to actually rhythm myself with the one-two-one-two of Misty's gait.
But after practicing a few times, Joanne told me to try again, to trot on the longer side of the arena. And because I was new to it, she allowed me to hook my thumbs to this small hand-hold on the saddle while Misty trotted.

After a while, I got more used to standing-sitting-standing-sitting along with the trot. And when Joanne asked me to do one last trot and give it my best, I actually did pretty well, balancing myself nicely without toppling or slippig. W00t.

Misty was breathing so hard because of his lung problem, that I requested I give him a short walk, just to wind him down slowly. So, I took him around the whole stables, along the track for the pony ride.

He was very sweet, nudging me in the arm and licking me also. After the walk, his breathing slowed considerably, and he looked better also. I teethered him to a post and went in to the office to sign up attendance and to speak with Annie (one of the woman working there), and Joanne, who'd come in eating her brunch.

I stayed for about ten minutes, and then left. The office is directly opposite the paddock. When I walked out, I saw that someone left led Misty into the paddock and let him have his free time.
I don't know if it's because I like him so much, or because he thought that I had feed for him. But as I walked along the track to leave the place, Misty walked towards me, from the far side of the paddock. He came right up to the railing, and stood there for quite a few moments as I patted him again and thanked him for his patience. Then, at the exact moment when I was about to leave, it was as if he sensed that, and he gave me a nudge with his nose, and then walked off.

Oh Gawd. I feel all tingly inside knowing how sweet Misty is. I actually hugged his neck and gave him a nuzzle. =)

He looks just like Jasmine here, only slightly larger, and with more black specks on his body.

=) *swoons for Misty*