The Fifth Ride/Swim of Christmas

The weather is still horrible. Part of Sophie's paddock isn't draining and is so muddy it's over the top of my boots. Of course that's also the part where she loves to sleep and poop!  I need to invest in some wellies and allow myself more daylight hours for mucking out. I spend a good part of the time doing chores planning in my mind all the ways I could set up our barn at home more efficiently (and with less mud!)

I realize I probably haven't mentioned much about about our building plans lately. That's because they're on hold. We're still waiting for the city to give us the permit, but in the meantime I think we've both lost motivation and are again looking at bigger lots (outside the city, coincidentally, lol) So, perhaps my post about building a barn was premature.

Our only pictures today are from inside because dark and rain do my camera no favors.

Anyway, I did get mud monster Sophie out today. I took her down to the outdoor arena and longed her a little. It's funny how things sneak up on you - she feels petty solid out there all the sudden. I added in some poles to keep it interesting and to up the difficulty and she was great. The only little issue is left lead canter is still a work in progress (it's weak so she swaps leads all over the place when she gets unbalanced or tired - timing is everything) and the poles were confusing that, so instead I used it as an opportunity to do a lot of transitions by trotting over the poles and cantering the rest.

It was getting dark and it was so, so damp out, so we ventured over to the barn with the indoor. Sophie isn't a fan of it over there because the horses that live there are always just out of sight behind some big trees. Also, they never answer her whinnies, so she's uncertain whether they are there and friendly or horse zombies stalking her from the forest.

"DID YOU HEAR THAT!?"

So, it's not her happy place. I got on anyway because I feel like if I start making excuses not to that's the start of a slippery slope mentally for me. Sophie was definitely not as relaxed as I would have liked and had a few opinions about things but I was proud that for the most part she kept a lid on the feelings. There's nothing new to report technically - we walked some shapes a generous person might call circular,  a few laps each direction. Lots of stopping and starting, lots of falling through the outside shoulder (the attraction to the pretty blonde pony in the mirrors at the far end was strong and S of course has only a tiny idea what my outside rein means :) The amusing part to me is that I was working on the same basic things with Bridget yesterday - please keep a consistent tempo unless I ask for different, and please keep your shoulders on the path. Of course, the corrections for B are usually in trot or canter and are very subtle, but it's there nonetheless.

What I was very proud of was that Sophie really tried her best for me despite being uneasy about the surroundings. I think next  we might be ready to add a little trotting to our repertoire of things we can do.

Babies being babies, and Sophie being Sophie, I think her brain ran out of batteries in the indoor because our walk back home was...eventful. A truck drove by and water splashed under the tires and S lost her mind. I'm 99% sure we did not get splashed - I think it was just the noise she took offense to. Then every other vehicle that drove by was cause for drama. Of course one of them was the barn owner who already thinks Sophie is a nut. S did not do  herself any favors by leaping in the ditch when their truck came and then panicking because surprise! the ditch is full of water right now and she was swimming. Oh my. Traffic is one of the things I would have told you she's super solid with, but it looks like we might need to revisit that.

Ah well, two steps forward, one back (and into a ditch). Tomorrow is another day :)

The Third Ride of Christmas

And it was a big one!

I got to take Sophie on a trail ride! My husband very kindly led Bridget along with us, so I felt fairly comfortable hopping on Sophie knowing we had a good safety net in place. Still, you just never know with baby horses and I was a little nervous, I won't lie.

Spoiler alert, I was so happy and proud, because she was a very good girl!

Sweaty post ride pony. I've got no riding pictures today because I really just wanted to only worry about making sure she had the best possible outing.

I tried to set us up for success by taking a loop trail we've hand walked her on a few times before. I also waited for a weekday when its usually pretty quiet. The loop itself takes about 90 minutes and is almost all decommissioned forestry roads (Don't worry, I only hopped on for about 30 minutes of it). I felt like the route is a nice combination of technical to keep her mind busy, while still having enough room to maneuver should anything get weird. Also, there's a nice long gradual uphill section which used to serve me well with the very spicy baby Ginger pony - a tired pony was a good pony in her case!

Roadside eating breaks  encouraged. I really want these first rides  = fun adventures for her.

Sophie again felt a little unsettled by the fact I was in the saddle rather than beside her. It felt a little bit like there was a fire under her tail and we might go rocketing up the trail, lol.  I tucked her in behind Bridget, just in case! As is my luck, some random dude popped up in the bushes alongside the trail almost immediately. Sophie was on full alert. I said hi to the guy but he didn't respond and kept on lurking. Maybe picking mushrooms? I don't know. Whatever the case, G and Bridget had to come back and get us because Sophie was too worried to move past the spot on her own.

Next up, we navigated a whole series of big puddles and ditches. When they decommission the roads, they pull out any infrastructure like bridges or culverts, which leaves lots of big ditches and creek crossings to navigate.  Sophie was excellent and got the hang of figuring out where to put her feet and how to go up and down the big dips with a rider. She's so good with water, which I really appreciate!

We saw another nice person out walking their dog, but otherwise it was quiet, just as I'd hoped. (S is great for almost everything but I need to work on cyclists coming up behind us and she's not 100% with ATVs/dirtbikes if they don't slow down enough)

It's been a while since I've ridden a wobbly baby pony on the trails...I forgot how weird it is to ride a horse that doesn't really know how to go where you point and who makes more than a few interesting choices regarding where they put their feet. As the rider, you really are just along for the ride!

By the time I hopped off, we were confidently leading the way on a loose rein, and I even felt like I had some rudimentary brakes and steering. So pleased we were able to give her such a positive and confidence boosting outing:)

Happy, happy

Such a good girl! I'm going to try to fit in more trail rides in the next few weeks - I feel like it's so much easier and fun for the horses  to install the basics out there because there's a visible purpose to everything I ask (stop for this gate, go around that tree, slow down for this downhill section, etc).

I have to mention that Bridget was feeling great again too. G was like "what are you feeding her? She's towing me everywhere!" Her little ears were forward the whole time and she seemed so happy to be out. Fingers crossed I have time for another Bridget ride soon. I'm just so happy she's feeling so good.

It sounds like we're going to get rained out today (100mm+ forecasted!), so the ponies may get a day off, especially as the indoor arena is already booked. Hopefully see you again soon!

12 Rides Of Christmas

The title makes no literal sense, it just sounded fun and now its stuck in my head and I can't come up with anything else. Anyway, I am off on a break til New Year and have nothing on the schedule but horse time. Let's hope I log more than 12 rides!

Fingers crossed, I should have plenty of time to get a few more rides in on Sophie and maybe even build up a little routine and make some progress before I give her one last mini break in January. I don't have any quantitative goals defined. As we all know with baby horses pretty much every day brings a "first". One more new and exciting thing checked off the million and one things they should know on their way to being a grown up riding horse. Anyway, I'm committing to putting the time in, and we'll just have to wait and see where we get.

Growing up so quickly! She'll be 4 in April, I think.

Sophie's been on a pretty light schedule since the end of September. I was going to give her a bit more time to grow (and me to lose more weight!), but of course Sophie can't be expected to understand that and has made it obvious she's bored in her field and would like more to do. A lot more to do, preferably :) I've been completely overwhelmed with work and had some bad luck as far as being sick off and on the last couple of months, so the best I've been able to do is get her out for a walk or longe 2 or 3 times a week. It's barely enough and I've made little progress because she's just go so much energy and really needs more consistency and time than I had.

So, for Day 1 of horsey christmas, we were just getting back at it. I  tacked her up, walked her down the road to the arena, and longed her a bit, really focusing on getting her to bend her body around me amd focus rather than the counterbend and look for spooky things outside thing she's been favoring lately. I get it, she's bored, she thinks she knows it all, but yeah, I'm not just moving forward and hopping on after however many weeks and only a few rides in her life. A little check in isn't too much to ask :)

Adding extra flair to a roll back I asked for quietly from walk...because, reasons? She's so silly some days.

Day 2 was a little bit more of the same, but I did hop on (in the safety of the round pen) Sophie acted a bit like this was a new developmemt, which is fine, but also made me glad I was careful and didn't assume we'd be fine to pick up where we left off earlier in the fall. 

When you get on and realize pony has a bit of a hump in her back and your stirrups are WAY too long to be useful. Smile like it's fine, but keep your body super bracey. Because that's helpful. Seriously, I never learn. Thank god she's a good girl. 

Phew, I remembered to chill for real. Sophie's expression is letting us all know she still thinks I'm nuts.

We walked around a little, did some drunken sailor steering, got stuck and unstuck a few times, and in general just kept it very low key. The whoa/go cues improve every time and are pretty solid. Steering is kind of funny, I guess I was so focused on making sure I had access to all four corners that I'm not sure she consistently understands we can turn and go forward all at the same time. But hey, turn on the forehand or haunches is happily offered any time she's unsure, so there's that. We can just do squares, I guess  :)

Oops, here we are stuck momentarily.

Back on track. Basically at this point forward any which way is good, the steering will come.

We'll see what Day 3 and 4 bring. I'm not sure I have a helper today so we might be back to longeing or groundwork, but tomorrow G has promised to take us for a short trail walk. I think Sophie will really enjoy getting out of the arena - I know I'm looking forward to it!