Good Girls

I had the kind of week I hope I can continue through the winter. The days are going to get shorter and the weather more challenging, but it's my hope I can keep things ticking over and keep those baby steps coming.

Sunsets are earlier and earlier.

To be honest I've already achieved any goals I had for Sophie this fall. I don't want to seriously have her under saddle until next spring. So, this week we just went for a couple of walks around the neighbourhood, and had a couple of quick sessions in the round pen at the club grounds too. I finished up one day by leading her over part of the really old XC course on site...I think there was a Pony Club here 20+ years ago and nothing has been used since. Still, there are little bits of things left and still hidden in the surrounding forest. She happily trotted and jumped the little logs in hand and navigated a couple of small banks so I guess you could say we're eventers now ;)

Tried this saddle on her and it's a pass...it fits through the shoulder but too wide elsewhere. One day the saddle gods will smile on me.

She's getting the idea of lateral flexions and moving her hindquarters and shoulders under saddle. Whoa is pretty solid, go can be a little sticky and wiggly and start/stop as she's just a little unsure still. I'm only on her 5 or 10 minutes at a time and it's all walking. That's plenty for her right now and it's still enough for me to find a good moment or two and make tiny steps of progress.

Bridget also had a good weekend, doing what she does best and showing a nervous horse the ropes of being an ammy friendly trail horse. I am so lucky with her....Murphy's law being what it is you know our outing wouldn't be straightforward. We had to go past a man cutting firewood with a chainsaw on the side of the road and B quite happily marched right on through, even with the other horse jumping around and  bouncing off of her.

I finally pulled her mane too...I could handle this look anymore, so look forward to a more polished Bridget in future posts. Sidenote: It's kind of weird that she's a pony and this is the longest mane and forelock she grows. 

We had a nice flatwork school as well, and she was on fire - light and responsive and so, so, supple and free through her back. She often feels great after a little time off doing other things. She knows her job and gets tense and resentful if she is bored or thinks I am drilling things.

I'm getting an itch to do a little jumping again so some poles and little grids might be a fun thing to add back to the mix to start with. To be honest, as much as I love Bridget it's a little hard to keep motivated without any goals for her. It turns out I am not a trail rider at heart because I'm getting pretty bored with ours. I think it's time to mix it up a bit again.

Bonus moody ocean picture. I took a few and got home and realized there are humpback whales in the center of the frame while I was all focused on panoramic misty mountain tops. Oops.

No Saddle November?

I'm taking a break from saddles. Long time readers know that I've gone through approximately 11 million saddles on B, had two saddle fitters involved, had custom alterations made, and spent ridiculous amounts of money. Yet we don't have a saddle that fits really well. Part of that is due to Bridget's ever changing shape...She's popped out some withers and a more dippy back these past two years, meaning my saddles that fit propane tank pony aren't suitable anymore. She's also quite fussy and never moves out as freely under saddle as one would hope, even with saddles the fitter has thoroughly checked over. In a perfect world I'd have the perfect saddle, and then I would order that same saddle in 2-3 different tree sizes for her, depending on her weight and fitness throughout the year.

Pony grew a decent set of withers in the past year! Some of it is missing topline, some of it must just be age related? My coach was mentioning they can "grow" withers through proper work as well, but I'm not convinced that's entirely the case here, lol

She's recently been making it clear she's unhappy with her current dressage saddle, and until such time as the fitter can take a look, I'm just not going to use it.

Bareback pads are the best invention.

 So, I'm having my own informal No Saddle November :) I have no idea when or how things changed, but I am perfectly confident and comfortable flatting B in a bareback pad. It feels like not all that long ago I felt too tentative to be really effective, but now I'm feeling pretty secure and school all the things I would with a saddle. The only thing that slightly worries me is that I like to warm her up and cool her down pretty long and low, and it's not so easy for me to get up off her back without a saddle. She seems very loose in her back and happy though, so maybe I shouldn't over think it. On the plus side, I am much more conscientious about making good, balanced, transitions, because no one needs to die via being shaken by a crazy pony trot :)

Love this mare, she's so fun.

 Anyway, we're having fun, and thats good, because having fun is basically Bridget's only purpose right now :) Spoiled pony, she's only 10 and basically just has to really work a couple of times a week when I want to practice concepts for my Audrey rides. Other than that, I just try to keep a base level of fitness on her via some light flatwork and stretching in the ring, after which we launch explorations of the neighbourhood trails to keep B entertained. I miss having bigger goals with her, and on my tougher days I want to call myself a quitter,  but this feels right for both of us. She's become a different horse (in a good way!) with the change in work and lifestyle and I'm happier just appreciating her for who she is and not feeling like I have permanent tickets for the struggle bus.

Also very cute.

Fingers crossed all this yoga and bareback riding pays dividends as far as my balance and coordination. I still have goals of mastering canter pirouettes and tempi changes with Ms Audrey, and she does so appreciate it when I can keep out of her way :) We're back at it with a lesson next week that I'm very excited for.

Bridget's other job is helping me tidy the barn

Fingers crossed Ms Sophie proves easier to fit. It would be so lovely to just be able to pop some generic sized, off the rack saddle on a horse and ride!

Musings

AKA Things I Ponder As I Pick Poo

- I've been having some really fun rides on Bridget lately. She's forward, sharp off my leg, and she feels good mentally and physically. She feels like she wants to be my dressage pony. Except no, we've been down that road where I get all excited and I think our struggles are solved and B wants to do dressage for real. I'm promising us both to continue to keep it fun and light. I can still learn a lot on her without pushing things.

-Audrey has been teaching me a lot about riding. I wonder if Bridget is going so much better because I'm more effective and blocking her less with my body.

- On the topic of blocking: I'm not sure coaches emphasize enough how important it is to be "loose" in the saddle. I know my brain is always translating "shoulder back" to holding it there, or "use your core" as being solid/strong. I'm lucky in that my coach is more concerned with effectiveness and what works for your body and horse rather than her students looking like the traditional equitation picture, but I still was holding my body where I thought it should be. Audrey is teaching me that if I can't be perfect, being slightly too loose is better than holding tension anywhere in your body.

Bridget is getting a slight winter fuzz already!

- You really can make a better trail horse thru dressage. B mechanically has a good walk, so we never wanted to change that. What did drive me nuts was that if left to her own devices, her walk was more of a slow meandering path that was not getting us efficiently from point A to B. We worked hard on getting her moving out in the ring. I've been noticing since we moved home that if I let her move out at that same free moving, steady pace on the trail we're usually ending up way out in front of everyone rather than the meandering along behind that used to be the norm prior to EC's help. Riding with the same group of people again has made the difference super obvious. I like this confident pony who now goes places happily and with a purpose. It is such an improvement!

From last weekend. Nothing in front of us except a few wasp nests, lol

- B's dressage saddle...I really like it. I was kind of "meh" about it at first, but a few weeks ago my hip was bugging me so I lowered the stirrups a couple of holes. Total game changer...I feel like my leg can just hang and I'm not fighting anything. I'm finding myself getting on and kind of sinking in to the saddle and feeling pretty comfy! The seat is still a bit big for me and the flap too long, but I can live with that when the balance of the saddle puts me in the right spot and it feels so close to the horse. That being said, I'm not sure I'd like this saddle on the Audreys of the world - I do enjoy the security of the thigh blocks on hers!

Nothing fancy - it's a 10 year old Jeffries Elite in a wide tree. I'd highly recommend trying if you've got a cob shaped horse and are shopping on a budget- they're British made and IMO equivalent quality to County of the same vintage for about a quarter the price I think due to not bring repped or trendy here.

Saddles and Sassy Ponies

First off, can I pick the blogosphere's brain about saddles? What are your opinions on adjustable gullet saddles? I'm wanting to jump B again, but am needing a saddle for that. I'm hoping for something on the more reasonably priced side since I'm not foreseeing a future of being serious about much of anything with Bridget. I'm also still feeling a little burned by the saddle fitting and customizing experience that cost $$$$ without resulting in a saddle I could use on the new and improved Bridget pony's slimmer frame. I'll delve back into nicer tack once Sophie has finished growing and is at a good age for her own gear. And if I find a reliable saddle fitter. Until then, I can see how adjustable gullets might be something worth looking into (for both ponies). B is at a size now where she can fit into the standard wide/xw Pessoa and Bates gullets, and I'm not ruling out her changing shape again as she builds her topline back. So, the whole adjustable thing is pretty tempting. Please share your experiences, good and bad, fellow bloggers! :)

On the Banana Pony side of the field, someone is feeling VERY VERY good about herself.  I was sadly mistaken when I thought I'd just buy a baby pony, kick them out in the field and check in again later. This pony demands your attention, and is very naughty when she doesn't have a job.

Shhh...don't wake the dragon!

Sunday's farrier visit went as such:
(Sidenote: we found a most excellent farrier who travels to our area monthly, and she was (politely) horrified at the state of Sophie's feet. I didn't want to get into farrier drama, so didn't mention previous farrier visited twice in the last month and I had to fight with him to trim anything off. I let her think Sophie was just way overdue. She fixed them up in no time, though, and said she's got excellent feet. Pheww.)

Anyway, on with the pony farrier drama:

Sophie: Oh hey, you, what's happening? Are we going to go have fun?
Me: Come on, you're visiting the farrier...again.
Sophie: Actually, I don't have time for that right now
Me: Yes you do.
Sophie: Seriously. I am way too important and busy and I don't know this lady from anywhere. She is not worth my time.
Me: Suck it up. Look at your feet. You need a farrier. You have manners, please use them.
Sophie: My manners do not extend to this new farrier person. I cannot stand still for this amount of time. I told you I am too busy for this right now.
Me/Farrier: Ughh, stand still already.
Sophie *Kicks at farrier*
Me/Farrier:You're going to die now, Sophie.
Sophie: Ahhhhh, NO ONE LOVES ME I KNEW THIS WAS A BAD IDEA. I TOLD YOU I COULD NOT DO THIS TODAY.
Me (to farrier): I am so sorry, she knows better than this. I feel terrible.
Farrier: She's quite dramatic, isn't she?
Farrier: Your little bay mare sure is a nice horse :)

She looks so innocent

So, yeah. I have work to do with my little palomino monster pony. I was pretty horrified she kicked at the farrier entirely because she was having a temper tantrum. I could forgive bad choices made in fear, but this was entirely an "I don't like you and I don't wanna" thing. On the plus side, the farrier didn't fire us, and Sophie learned again that kicking people is a VERY VERY BAD thing. I learned that at this point in time, it's maybe not fair to just drag her out of her field and expect her to be calm and on her best behavior. So, there's that. The joys of owning baby ponies!

I may put Bridget in her field this coming weekend, so Bridget can have a friendly chat about personal space and manners too. It won't hurt Sophie, although Bridget's going to be very grumpy :)

Bridget is a very tough customer. This is me taking a picture of her while holding Sophie. B is not impressed.

Better Balance

In the balanced hooves saga, we've found someone willing to travel here next week to trim the ponies. I still fully intend to learn to trim both ponies myself, but Sophie's feet have a few different things going on right now and some professional guidance will be very welcome!

B has great feet, at least

In the balanced saddle journey, both of Bridget's now too wide saddles sold to new homes. Yay! I've got a dressage saddle for her now that is still a bit wide, but I'm hopeful that when she builds up her topline a bit again that it will be better. Right now, though, it tips ever so slightly forward and I'm not loving it. I've got a riser pad on order, but meh, I'm less than enthused about this saddle. So, I went and bought an older Frank Baines dressage saddle to try. Fingers crossed. Still no jumping saddle, and of course now that means I'm super frustrated about it and  I want to jump all the things!

In the meant time I bought this:

Guess you could say we're getting serious about this trail riding pony thing.

And have been doing our flat work in it. It's actually working super well for us both! B is very forward and happy, and I'm realizing just how much our previous saddles were NOT fitting me. So nice to just sit and let my leg hang where it needs to - no fighting anything.

Of course, my balance needs some help. I'm noticing I'm particularly ineffective in canter to trot transitions, sort of collapsing and falling into it (and letting Bridget do the same) and in general I haven't been using my core as much as I should. Hunching your shoulders and rounding your lower back doesn't feel 'right' without a saddle, so I'm hopeful I'll be better about looking up and keeping my shoulders aligned with my hips. Funny how it's fairly easy to have a wonky position in a saddle and then you ride bareback and it's immediately obvious that there's a better, easier, way to position yourself!

B has no issues with pony yoga balance

While I am very much missing lessons and showing, I'm also enjoying this relaxed schedule and the lack of pressure I feel. I'm having fun riding bareback, so what's the rush to buy a saddle? Dressage tests practiced at home have no tack or attire rules. Maybe I'll get braver and start jumping sans saddle too, who knows :)

Showing her loss of topline due to my lack of a focused conditioning schedule, but LOOK, DAPPLES!

In other horse/life balance news, I've been asked if I would sell Ginger. I'm thinking it's time, and am open to it, provided the fit is a good one. Further discussions pending, but I'm hopeful there will be some positive change in both of our futures.

Mixed Weekend

Saturday, I headed out for drill team, and pretty much immediately failed at the whole having fun and relaxing thing. As I was walking in, someone told me Bridget looks too thin, ("she is a pony and is supposed to be round, not thin") which I felt defensive and upset about, and that, combined with a second, more passive aggressive comment, kind of had me stewing a little.

Pics from today. I like her weight right now? My only critique would be she's lost some topline muscling due to her reduced workload. Also, I wish she'd finish shedding. Polite feedback is of course welcome, tho. 

So, grumpy me left after practice, and opted out of the games day.

Letting the starving pony eat.

I went back to the barn and did my weekend chores, then remembered that I'm a grown up and grown ups don't let mean girls ruin their fun. So, I salvaged the morning by leading Sophie down to walk around and hang out in the warm up while the arena was busy.  She was a little overwhelmed at first (so much to look at! So many horses to say hello to!) but she tries so hard to be good that it's pretty easy to find positives to focus on. She's very tuned in and responsive, so when I tell her she's being good (or bad!) she listens and acts accordingly. It only took a few minutes of me giving her a little job each time she got distracted before she settled right in to the atmosphere with a softer mindset and stood quietly on a loose lead beside me while I chatted with friends.

Always watching :)

 I' m just loving her good mind, it's been a very long time since I've had a horse that's so people oriented and eager to please. She's quite quick thinking and reactive too, so it will be interesting to see how that energy combined with her kind nature translates under saddle. Fingers crossed for sharp, but sensible.

B models our new saddle today.

Jeffries elite. This maybe isn't a trendy saddle, but the quality is amazing, and the leather/craftsmanship is IMO a bit nicer than the equivalent Custom Wolfgang Solo  and County Connection I've been borrowing, so I feel like it's a good find.

Sunday, I took Bridget for a spin in our new-to-us saddle. I think it's a bit wide on her, but Bridget thinks it's great, apparently. She started out her usual self, all tense and stuck, then I got her to stretch in walk and then she pretty much only wanted to stretch in all 3 gaits! She just got softer and softer and more forward the whole ride. I'll take that as a good sign! I didn't ask for much beyond getting her stretching and forward on a longer rein. Quit while we're ahead, plus then I have 3 days away at work to think about a good ride and to feel hopeful we can build on it.

IDK if reading saddle pads is less science and more equivalent to reading tea leaves, but it does at least look to be sitting evenly and confirm my grooming skills were sub par today. Blog readers, as always welcome to chime in if you notice anything, I'm a month away from being able to meet up with a saddle fitter.

Spring Came

This week in the life was marked by the arrival of spring (finally!), a new to us dressage saddle to try, a massive tack clean up, a good pony, and a not so good pony. Oh, and some self improvement.

Spring! Some tulips even escaped our resident deer! :)

There  was an eBay saga last week where I found what I thought was the perfect saddle, but eBay would not let the seller mark it as sold nor could they give me a receipt for the payment! So weird. After much time chatting to the help desk, it was decided it was a computer glitch and they needed to refund my money and relist the saddle. At which point someone else "Bought it now". Arghhh.

I panicked and found a different saddle that was a bit more of a shot in the dark and had that shipped out for  trial. It's a wide tree Jeffries in lovely shape. I don't overly like it for me, and it's actually a bit too wide for B, but the price was right, and it's a better fit for both of us than the County it's replacing. I'm going to keep it and use shims so that I at least have a saddle to ride in while we look for the unicorn saddle we both like. I hate saddle shopping! B's topline has kind of suffered for my lack of work the past month, so there's at least hope the new saddle will fit as she bulks back up.

I've been having awful rides on Ms Bridget. She's so braced and argumentative I think I may get the vet involved just to be sure she'. Just bring a grump. The latest development was to be REALLY barn sour...sucking back, then rearing and bucking when pushed to leave the property. So incredibly rude! We fixed it, obviously, but I'm like "really?! are we really discussing this again? Is this going to be an annual thing forever?"

Unimpressed mare

I'm a little at my wits end with her rudeness of late...so yesterday she went for a visit to the round pen to reestablish some manners. The great thing about the Bridgets of the world is they're super awful and badass for about 10 minutes cantering, max, then it's just too exhausting and manners miraculously reinstall to their brains.

Sovie/Sophie had an easy week, although there was a little drama. Her brain also uninstalled temporarily this week. I took Bridget away, and I guess she LOVES her, even though Bridget is awful to her in return. Luckily she's a smart cookie and just as I was vowing to sell her (OMG screaming drives me nuts, but hers is the worst I've heard - so high pitched and shrill!) her brain returned (as did peace to the entire neighbourhood.)

Some adorable mini floof...remember our buddy Lily? She and Sophie sound pretty much the same, Sophie is just 10x louder, lol

Besides the one baby horse moment, she's been her normal curious and sweet self. She's out in her summer field now that spring is here, but she still comes running to say hi, and "helps" me groom her by showing me all the itchy places.

On the personal improvement side, I bought this audiobook and am loving it so far. I listen to it on my lunch time walk/runs:

And, after a crazy allergic reaction earlier in the week, my diet for the next 3 weeks gets to be even more restricted than I had originally planned. Not quite how I wanted to lose weight...but...winning?!

Finally, I did a major spring tack clean up. This is just part of it, I have so much to sell, lol.

Not So Great Dressage

Time to recap our tests this past weekend!

I think I mentioned Bridget's saddle was out getting new billets and being reflocked for many months. Enough months that when the fitter showed up the morning of the show, it did not fit. At all. It's way too wide now that B has lost weight and changed shape. A quick look at my jump saddle confirmed it's not as bad, but not ideal anymore either. Ughhh, did not like paying $500 to get a saddle back that didn't fit, but particularly didn't like hearing neither saddle fit.

Anyone looking for a County Competitor in super good shape? 17.5", XW tree, short flap. For sale or trade for similar in a wide tree.

We tried a shimmable half pad, but yeah, with worst dressage test ever happening with that set up I'm going to go out on a limb and say B did not approve. Not that I'm totally blaming the saddle, B was certainly in a mood and I ended up not having enough warm up due to a last minute boot zipper malfunction. I also could find a place to sit with the saddle tipping so far forward, so it was all a bit struggle bus.  Our score was 57% if you're curious...lots of 5.5's and 6's due to B being very up and braced throughout. I think the highest score was my 6.5 for rider.

B about 5 min after I put her away. Arguing is exhausting! :)

EC lent me her lovely saddle for test 2, and also gave us a pretty intense lesson after test 1. I'm glad she was there because honestly I was pretty frustrated with B and the sadde  situation, so left to my own devices would have probably just called it a day. EC is genius at acknowledging where things went wrong, but also at giving me the belief I can fix those things independently and that it's always worth trying again.

Another 17.5" XW County for sale or trade

So, test 2 went WAY better. B was still in a really grumpy mood, but I felt like I rode to the very best of my ability and got the most out of her I was going to. A solid test with a well behaved B and no errors was good for 63%. Lots of 6's and 6.5's and I get the feeling the judge was just wanting a little "more" from B, although I got a "well ridden" and a nice rider score :) In this very competitive area, that's still good for last place tho, lol.

Never in my life worked so hard for 63% or to be 6/6...so this ribbon goes proudly in the jar with all the rest

I scratched Sunday, because I just wasn't having fun, and I'm sure B wasn't either. And, life is too short not to enjoy it! Instead of showing, I called tests (OMG, calling upper level tests might be a skill in itself - so much happening, so quickly!) and took the new pony for a walk around the grounds.

B looking cute today

Moving forward, I'd be lying if I said I didn't consider giving up dressage with Bridget. She's miserable to deal with when she's in a mood. But then EC and I started talking about that, and I was like "oh wait, she gets like this with jumping, cross country...even trail riding some times. Its kind of just who she is." So EC talked me off the ledge, and lent me her dressage saddle while I get appropriate tack sorted. Worst case, B is a great project for me to keep picking away at in preparation for moving up with another horse. I know this sounds bad, particularly  with the saddle situation, but I'm still really feeling like she let me down. The reality in this moment though is that I love her, she's the horse I have, and it's on me to unlock the puzzle pieces if I want to show her more successfully at this level. The challenging horses are the ones that make us better riders, right? :)

Quick Updates

I'm just sitting in the ferry line up, waiting to head home after a very busy weekend!

New pony arrived, and was a superstar all weekend. She is such a good baby, and so brave!

As I worried might happen, Bridget pretty much opted out of dressage on Saturday, and so EC and I were both pretty disappointed. Our first test was absolutely awful, and scored accordingly, our second test was much better but still not great. I scratched Sunday, because Saturday's rides weren't at all fun for either of us. Life's too short for that, so I'm going to think on things a bit.

In other news, the saddle fitter came out and my dressage saddle does not fit Bridget now that she lost weight. No words for that, 6 months of waiting for it to be reflocked and new billets put on, and it turns out I need a new one. Oh, and a new jump saddle...ughh my luck is a little stinky right now!

On a happier note, my coach and barn mates all had a super weekend, and despite the saddle saga and the bad rides, it was a lot of fun to be there. I'm super inspired by all the great riding and gorgeous horses we were surrounded with. I also met tons of lovely people! Shout out to the super nice lady who reads this blog! I'm so sorry I didn't get your name and was so busy. Next time? :)

Anyway, lots to think on, and lots of details to come, I'm sure. Hope everyone had a great weekend!