Yuck!

Well today wasn't the best day for me and Spade. I took him to Angie's today to see where Spade was on all his obstacles. I probably should have gone with my gut and not even took him. I knew that he wasn't ready to be tested on this stuff. Angie had everything that has been in the past year's competition set up. First he decided that today he didn't need to pick up his feet. He was ready for the log pulling just not the rope on top of the barrel. I went to pick up the rope and he stepped away. He didn't want near the barrel. Finally once Angie handed me the rope he pulled it to the next barrel. Again he didn't want anything to do with the barrel or putting the rope down on it. Given we haven't worked but one time on  picking things up off the barrel and if you remember that was the one day I thought he was going to kill me. Remember the Jolly Ball incident. After we finally got past the drag pole I moved to the gate. I was so proud because I have only opened a gate on him once before. And he did really well on the gate today. Then we back into the box and I was suppose to lope out and lope a circle. Then head to the bridge. That isn't what happened... I have been working on the whole speed control thing for the last week and Spade isn't really getting it. So when I took off at a lope he decided that he would jump over all the logs and go to the back of the pen. There was no left, no right and no stop. All I could say was 'uh oh'! It was funny, yet really frustrating at the same time. After trying it again Angie and I realized that I needed way more control. So I started to lope circles. Every time I would come around he would take off toward the bridge. This went on for at least five minutes until I got a few good circles and then I stopped him. We went out on the trails for a few hours and then came back to do more speed control. I finally figured out that the way I was riding and sitting was my main problem. So tomorrow I will have to start working on that.
It is so easy to get frustrated when things don't go our way. I was sharing with a friend today that I have gotten to the point that no matter what happens in life or with the horses I just laugh it off. In the horse business it is really easy to have problems at least twice a week. And if you always feel frustrated then a person would be very unhappy all the time. I tend to keep a since of humor while I am with the horses. I always try my best to say "well I will fix it in the practice pen" and move on. I always think about Job in the bible when the devil had killed his family, stolen everything he had and Job ended up on a manure pile listening to some not so good friends. He had enough character to understand that even then God was still his Redeemer (Job 19:25) and he had it all under control. He also understood that his life was not his own, because he said "Though He slay me, I will still trust Him" Job 13:15 What a free way to live...Trusting that God has your life in his hands and that he has your best interest in mind. I know for me it frees me from all the worry that I would carry if I were trying to live this life on my own.