Monday 2 September 2019

Growing Up

I finally had a weekend with time for myself! This summer has been a bit of a disaster by pretty much any definition, but I'm cautiously optimistic that things are back on an upswing and we will return to a nice, boring, normal :) I really like having a predictable schedule and feel all out of sorts when things don't allow for that.

Anyway, what did I do with my first normal week since June, you ask? Here's a hint: I'm updating this blog so there were horses involved!


I got Sophie out a few times and she was an absolute star. Honestly, as far as I was concerned she would have had a free pass to be a complete nightmare, given I don't think we left the property at all during the rest of the month of August. But no, she seemed as excited to get out and back to work as I was and there were zero dramatics beyond her standard level of playfulness.

I'm still waiting on the saddle that fits her to come back from repairs so there was no actual sitting on her. However, I rehashed all the prep work you'd expect and she was pretty chill with it all. She's super at lining herself up with the fence or mounting block now too, which is pretty fun. She's a smart little cookie, given we last visited that concept well over a month ago, and just the once.


She's starting to get a lot softer as far as giving to the bit as well. I'm not sure she's a fan of the snaffle that I'm currently using, so that's another piece of tack that's going to get traded out before I ride or more immediately, proceed with further long lining. For now we just do big sweeping turns and the standard flexions baby horses need to understand before you hop on.

I'm still open to sending her to a trainer, but we haven't hit a spot yet where I don't feel confident and comfortable with our progress. So, we continue on. She's definitely a little spooky and silly and quick thinking, but she's also very kind and tries hard so I've yet to feel like any of it is beyond me. I really got lucky with her!


As for Bridget, she got a spa day and a quick ride. Despite wanting things to be normal and to catch up on all the things, I caught some sort of death plague in the city last weekend and so there was a limit to my energy and ambition this week. Luckily, Bridget is good at matching my energy level and wasn't overly fussed about getting the shorter end of the stick attention wise. She's out in a little field and is perfectly content picking away at the bits of vegetation when she's not sleeping, just living her best life.

Onwards we go...I'm feeling really excited about the future!




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17 comments

  1. Oh my gosh Sophie is looking so grown up!! I so hear you on the crazy summer. Mine's felt that way although it has been getting constantly better since this past spring. Hopefully things will continue to quiet down for both of us :)

    Also, not sure if it's the budget but I ADORE my performance pony Neu Schule and I've been using the same bit with Katai for the past 6+ years now so it's not been a bad investment overall!

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    1. She's more adult looking than awkward these days, which is a definite win!
      I just found a HS KK Ultra in pony size on a huge sale, which is kind of a shot in the dark for her. 99% sure Bridget will love it if nothing else. Thanks for the recommendation, I feel like S and Katai are similar in shape so it's well worth a try for us.

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  2. This summer has flown by! And Sophie has grown up so much this year.

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    1. All the sudden she's looking grown up more often than not! Fingers crossed she fills out even more though...there are still days where her legs appear to be sticks randomly attached to her body :)

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  3. Your banana pony is the cutest! Glad you are getting to a place where you can experience "normal" life again.

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    1. Thank you! Normal life is highly underrated :)

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  4. Glad things are returning to "normal"!
    Sophie looks so grown up now.. wow!!

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    1. The pictures might be a little misleading - I see her moving in real life and am still seeing so much awkward baby, but then I look at still pictures and she looks like an actual pony? :)

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  5. She looks like an adult!

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    1. She's still a lot narrower than I think she will be, but she's getting close!

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    1. Bridget is my pony twin (ooh..just had a blog hop idea;) so sometimes I think we're both left wondering how the banana pony suddenly got so elegant and athletic looking lol

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  7. My, my, my, has Sophie grown up! Holy moly. What a looker!

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    1. It's still a little about the angle...from the front she's still pretty gangly!

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  8. Sophie is adorbs. Totally can't wait till you are riding her! SO EXCITED.

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    1. We are SO close! I was standing in the stirrups and leaning on her from the fence last weekend. As with all things, she's still a little nervous but we're getting there.

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  9. sounds like everything is going pretty well ;) glad Sophie is responding so well to your training too!

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