Monday 4 December 2017

Like A Dragon

I only rode twice this week, and both times were a little more exciting than ideal.

On the plus side, B is feeling fantastic. On the downside, I'm not exercising her enough so we've lost the relaxation temporarily to all that excess energy. Our flat work is more a combination of dragon and manic giraffe than anything resembling dressage on a pony.

Cutest dragon pony

She's hilarious, tho. I get on at the barn and she power walks the 15 min to the arena, all puffed up, shaking her head and snorting like a dragon the whole way. And yet, she's just walking on a loose rein. I guess in her mind she is walking SO FAST though that she's pretty impressive and bad ass.

At the arena, I let her trot around then canter on a loose rein. Again, lots of fire breathing dragon impersonations, but little actual bad behaviour beyond the odd scoot or spook. The canter is the best, because she's like "look at me, I'm cantering! So fast! IM THE LITERAL FASTEST COB EVER. Want to jump the rail? No? You want to walk? OK, good, because actually being a dragon is exhausting and I need to rest"

Power walking

I spent some extra time today making her stay in walk before cantering. When she gets feisty she wants to drag me around, until she gets tired and then she wants to suck back. So, walk to canter and lots of related transitions and lateral work are my friend for keeping her honest.

I actually like the overly excited and naughty Bridget way better than the lazy, uninterested one, so I don't do much to correct her beyond the above exercises. I spend a lot of time just letting her cruise around while I practice my two point.  I like that she's having fun right now. We'll get back to more dressagelike behaviour some other time, for now I'm spoiling her and can't bring myself to regret it.
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19 comments

  1. Yup - Annie is sassy too lol.

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  2. I love a sassy pony! :) It's like they're worked up, but still totally safe.

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    1. Exactly. Love that they're feeling so great in such a non rider destructive way lol

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  3. oh man, sounds like a wild ride lately!! like Ms Midge is quite full of herself!!

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    1. She thinks she's all that, and then some

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  4. I totally agree with you! No need to rain on her parade. :)

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    1. Right? She's so happy and cooperative, and I love that too much to rain on it.

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  5. One must look fierce to all onlooking predators don't cha know! Haha

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  6. Sassy Pony is awesome. I love her dialogue!

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    1. When it comes down to it she'll always be the pony equivalent of the person who'd rather sit on the couch and eat potato chips all day.

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  7. Riding is the most important part what you do doing it is up to you! And this sounds like a lot of fun. Dressage will come back but for now ride the dragon!! :) Just think how forward she will be when you get back to the real work. I am jealous of your forwardness ;) HA!

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    1. I would have never guessed she could even be this forward. And so happy about it! I'm living in an alternate pony universe right now, for sure.

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  8. lol @ being a dragon is exhausting! Poor pony haha

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  9. P is the same way- dragon or basset hound. Need a happy medium! What a badass fire breather B is ::laughing::

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    1. Right? There's only like 2 minutes of good work in between dragon and basset hound!

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  10. I wonder if she realizes just how cute a fluffy pony dragon is. It may actually be backfiring with her clever Pony plans haha

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    1. She really does all she can to avoid being cute. Too bad her efforts only make her cuter/more hilarious.

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