Fun Weekend

Rock star

We trailered back up to the main exhibition grounds yesterday to continue on with our show prep weekend.

Both my 'S' friends were there again, and we had a few new additions as well. Unfortunately for me and my mini jump course, all the poles were quickly used up building a crazy trail course. I did have fun playing in there as well, so my disappointment was pretty short lived. We'll be back soon for a jump course.

We started out with a short lesson, and then moved on to the obstacles. I started with a line of cones (about 8) set 9' apart. The idea is to leg yield through them in a zig zag pattern. It really forces you to be precise with your aids because 9' isn't as much space as you'd think. Once we were successful at the walk, we moved up to trot. I started with every second cone and got it done although it wasn't pretty. Honestly, we never did go through perfectly at the trot - I ended up having to cheat a bit and let Midge lead a little more than idea with her shoulders. Still, good practice - I should be setting up stuff like that at home to keep us honest!

We moved on to a bunch of raised poles set in a figure eight pattern. Ideally, you'd canter them, but they were on maybe 10m circles, and there is no way Midge can do that! So we trotted and pony was champion of the trot poles.

Next up, we moved on to a 10' square box marked out by poles. The idea is to trot in, circle at a trot inside the box, and trot out. It's doable, but you really need excellent shoulder control. I suspect Midge could do it on a good day, but yesterday she was fairly distracted by all the goings on and managed 3/4 on our best try. Another exercise that I may bring back later because it really forces you to be precise. It's easy to think I'm getting it done in a bigger space, but  when the boundaries are visually defined it becomes apparent we're pretty sloppy! I'll go back tomorrow and take some pics of the trail course - it's pretty cool.

After all the exercises involving discipline and control, it seemed an opportune time to let Midge have a good canter. She was a little stickier than she's been in the past couple of weeks, but I was pleased to get it done with minimal drama or sucking back. Unfortunately her big stampy feet (she sounds like a freight train!) spooked a friend's horse partway across the arena. We took that opportunity to go back to our mock flat class and did a lot of passing at the trot and canter, purposely cutting it a bit close. Midge was unsure, but settled in. Excellent practice for sure!

We finished off with a nice trail ride that included a lake, bridges, and cantering some logs. Fun! Since I ended up being in the saddle for 4 hours yesterday, Midge gets a well deserved vacation today. We'll get back at it tomorrow - we've got some shows to prep for!!

Modified Weekend

The weather just isn't cooperating for our camp out mock show weekend, so we cancelled the camping part. The camping will still happen,  we're just going to reschedule for another weekend. For this weekend, we're salvaging our plans somewhat by trailering in to the exhibition grounds each day and riding regardless of the weather.

Big ring is big,! About 200x400 ft. People were taking lessons in the part marked out for dressage so Bridget was spared and got to do the little x rail in front instead :)

Day 1 went well - Bridget trailered like a champ so that's always a win with a new trailer and horse buddy to share with. On arrival, the place was pretty busy, but there were only three of us in our group: myself, trainer S who I shared the ride with and normally take lessons with, and my best friend (another S), whom I've ridden with since we were kids. Best friend brought both her show horses, while trainer S and I just brought one each. Since this weekend is intended to be a show prep one, we warmed up as per usual, then ran through W/T/C/reverse as a group to imitate a flat class. I know many of you probably do this every week in lessons, but I ride mainly alone and the other two are also on young horses so it's good practice for the baby horses, particularly when they're not used to cantering in a group. Next up, we just worked on the things we'd like to improve and tried to help each other out. For me, that was obviously canter and I'm pleased to say Bridget did alright - not as good as she's been recently since I think the big ring intimidates and backs her off a bit, but we got both leads for a few large circles without much fuss and I was happy. We popped over a little gymnastic a few times and she was fabulous there too, so we spent a lot of time hacking around on the buckle watching everyone else work. Both the S's are light years beyond me in terms of riding and training so I always pick up handy tips. Bridget was mostly patient to watch the others - I just put her to work bending, trotting, transitions within the trot,, shoulder/haunches in, etc whenever she got a little distracted. Being a lazy  pony she caught on to that program quickly and was actually really well behaved and steady. She received many compliments from other riders, mostly because she's cute and quiet rather than any awesome things she did lol.

Haven't ridden a horse yet who doesn't think the announcer's booth is the scariest thing ever, particularly as we store spare barrels and poles beside it.

Tomorrow we're going to set up a bit more of a cross rail course for me (what a treat to have the room for an entire course!) along with a proper trail pattern course for best friend who rides western. I'm actually looking forward to the trail course as well - it will be interesting to see how the bridge goes - we've mostly got it mastered on the trail but she can still be uncertain. The pattern part I'm pretty sure I'll stink at, but it's good practice.

We discussed show plans a bit today and I've got some tentative things mapped out, depending on how our canter progresses. I have a standing invite and they're encouraging me to come along no matter what, even to enter walk trot classes for the outing, but I'm torn on that - so much $$ and travel for very limited classes or tests offered. I'd rather wait and have a better canter and be able to enter more classes. Unfortunately neither of my show buddies are interested in eventing so I'm looking at open shows or dressage/hunter/jumper stuff. First one is mid May which is maybe too tight of a deadline!

W 2 C

Midge offered a walk to canter transition today! (On our way out, not even on the way home!). Although regular readers might suspect this is an April Fool's joke, it's really not.

I must have looked pleased because two separate people that I saw in my travels commented on the lovely day and how happy we looked to be out for a ride.

Bridget got a free pass from the ring and we just had a nice quiet trail ride in the sunshine with a friend. Midge is the best at babysitting, after all. I could probably rent her out as a green horse trail buddy, the demand for her company is so high :) She cares not what other horses do and rarely gets impatient - I love that about her.

I've been having some lower back pain and feeling like I'm sitting crooked in the saddle. Again today, I was sore and stiff when we got home, even though I rode the last few km without my stirrups and made an effort to stretch my back and legs out. Finally, when I was untacking,  I noticed my stirrup leathers weren't even and the right one was 2 holes shorter. No idea when or how that happened, since I don't tend to adjust them ever, but I feel very stupid for not checking such a simple thing sooner! Fingers crossed, we've solved the mystery.

Anyway, what I really wanted to post here was that I just say I really, really love my newly forward and cantering pony!  That's all for today, I just had to share my excitement!

Wobbly

This afternoon, Midge and I finally got back at it with a 'serious' lesson.

She's very excited lol

We started out with a big win - once again she was way more confident about the canter and we had zero issues with forward! It's wobbly, but we can work with that.  S was so pleased and excited, what a difference in a very short time. Bridget's finally got the idea, or more importantly, gained the belief she can do it.

We set up some canter poles and baby pony was cool with that. Rather than bore her and tire her out, we moved on to some trot gymnastics with tiny x's and verticals mixed with poles. Midge felt quite excited to be 'jumping' but failed because she was so focused on the jumps themselves which were unfortunately for her, in the middle of the grid. She was like "Why are all these stupid poles in our way? Don't worry, T, I'll smash them out of the way so we can get at the bigger one and jump it!" She did figure it out after a few tries, but it felt pretty wobbly again after we set up some of the poles raised on one end. I tried to choose a line over the lower part of the poles to start, but she was convinced we must go over the center no matter what and was constantly trying to dart over. Eventually we got some consistently nice work in each direction with no Hulk smashing, so we upped the ante and started asking her to canter out over the last. She got a little uptight about that, so rather than pursue it too hard, we got one nice canter out then went back to easy trot poles.

My legs are sore tonight, Bridget isn't the only wobbly one - my two point has fallen by the wayside with all the flatwork we've been doing. I'm going to have to bring back 2 Pointober for April!

 We finished with a rock star photo shoot, because obviously she deserves to be worshipped ;).

This weekend is our mock show campout/party and I'm excited to take Bridget along. Fingers crossed the weather is alright so we don't have to postpone.

Peppermint Magic

We had a small surprise break in the weather yesterday afternoon. With another storm front moving in to wash away Monday and part of Tuesday, the intelligent thing to do was obviously to hop in the truck and get out to the barn for a ride.

I picked up a special order on the way - more of the horse crack  peppermint horse treats my two go absolutely crazy for. I've been trying to order them for months but for whatever reason the truck driver delivery guy seemed to always leave them behind at the distributor and just bring the big bags of grain. This sort of thing went on for so long the transport company eventually got fired, and a new company was hired to deliver the feed to our area. That's the power and importance of the peppermint treats, everyone - you don't get between them and the horses craving them!

Ginger and Bridget were suitably enthralled with my offerings, and smelt them before I even admitted to having them. I think it's safe to say we're all besties at the moment. Because they love me, obviously...the treats have nothing to do with it, right? ;)

I quickly tacked up Bridget and ventured out up the road. As with our ride on Thursday, I only had to ask for the trot and she happily obliged and maintained her own pace without nagging. Let's hope someone has finally learned I'm not going to babysit her forever.

My pony awaits. My  mounting block is also literally a block of wood lol

When we got to the ring, I spent a little bit of time getting her to bend properly, particularly on the right rein, She was a bit up and looky. I hate the looky part because that only leads to trouble, so we increased the difficulty and added in some serpentines and poles. Focus is a good thing for baby ponies!

Probably had to see, but someone left this pole set up and it was pretty handy.

Since pony was being quite good about looking after herself and keeping herself where I put her, I got the rare treat of being able to focus on my own riding and really tried to stay quiet and centered with my shoulders back and my core strong. I've developed a bad habit of 'helping' her by leaning all over the place, which isn't helpful at all! She's a smart girl, so lets hope she puts two and two together and realizes it's easier for everyone if she just does her job.

After a few minutes, I asked for a right lead canter depart and got it with minimal fuss, although she did have to scramble a little and get organized and broke to a trot before the corner after the long side.

Left lead was fabulous and we got not one, but two laps around the ring! After 7 months of riding and cantering this pony I should be embarrassed to be excited about that but I'm totally not. It's a small (20x40m) ring and baby pony is not the most balanced or athletic. Cantering those tight turns is a big win for her, and doing it twice around is a big breakthrough. She still leans and get rushy and breaks if I don't remind her to slow down and use her body in the corners, but for her to actually have the strength and balance to let me use my reminders is huge. I could literally feel her confidence increasing with every turn, and made sure to quit while we were ahead.

I went back to right rein canter and had a more muddled depart and the sucked back, head tossing of old. I went back to a 20m circle and got her balanced up and paid more attention to myself. She offered up a much nicer depart and with a little encouragement, did an entire lap of the ring. She finds one corner especially hard, so I was careful to set her up well for it and she made it through in canter for the first time ever. As a reward, I brought her back to walk then and there and called the day a huge success. I also told her how wonderful she is, of course. Perhaps the power of the peppermints still at work, but more likely months of work finally paying off in a measurable way!

'Yeah, I've got this"

I find it funny that it's always after some especially horrible rides that the small breakthroughs happen. Right when I really start doubting yourself, and am super low. I know part of it is just training and babies needing time and testing the limits and all that, but I think part of it is rider mental game too...how else can I explain getting to the point where I almost don't even care anymore and am resigned to more months of strength building outside the ring, then 'magically' getting a decent canter out of the pony the next ride?

Just in case though, treats will be a pre-ride ritual from now on :)

March Recap/April Goals

Lessons are rained out this morning, so it seems as good a time as any to go over my monthly goals!

Pics from yesterday to break up the text - no riding this weekend, the rain has been incredible yet again

March:
Self:
-Eat well. Yep. Can always be better though
-Exercise 5x a week. Walk min 10k/day on varied terrain or run/walk 5k. Nope. I exercised 5 days a week for sure, but the trails from our house were blocked due to logging and time/convenience became an issue -I didn't meet my distance goals consistently
-Ride min 5x a week.  Done
-Be proactive about tackling my remaining hang ups re: riding Ginger - expand the comfort zone! Meh. I rode her on the trails, I rode in a new 'scary' arena, but I chickened out on riding her in the clinic and never felt great about the other stuff.
-Remember to be patient. Nope
-Try to think more positively and confidently about myself and my riding skills. Recognize the negative self talk. Was a yes until the bad clinic weekend put me into a bit of a tailspin 
-Housekeeping - budget for new boots (ordered them today!), sign up for remaining club memberships for summer riding activities and shows. Done

Bridget:
-Weekly lessons. Done
-Improve canter departs and distance she can hold the canter. YES!
-Related to above, continue to work on pony`s overall fitness and willingness. Yes
-Tame the mane. It's better
-More trail rides, less ring work. (Find her happy place) Nope, did the opposite and pissed her off
-Front shoes? Not yet, but not needed
-Better trailer loading. She`s fine, but not as confident as she could be. Way better right now, trailered her out a few times this month with zero issues

Ginger:
-Weekly lessons. Nope, missed the last one
-Survive clinic mid month. Nope. Took Bridget because lame pony and scaredy cat owner
-Tame mane, beard, and tail. Yes
-Get her out and about (for the clinic plus trail rides)Counting this as a yes because we did get out quite a bit and she came to the clinic even though I didn't ride
-More tools to address lack of focus/spookiness/confidence. Some, but not enough
-On that note, sign her up for the extreme trail cowboy clinic in April. Signed up for clinic, but they might not have the spooky horse/desensitizing stuff due to lack of interest. May end up riding Bridget in a shared lesson re: getting a better canter
-Unhappy with her feet again - I need to be strong/assertive and discuss necessary changes with farrier at next visit. Or use Bridget`s farrier. Who does a really good job, but Ginger hates. And who isn`t `the barn`farrier. Sigh...so much drama. Discussed and I have the OK to trim her myself between visits or use other farrier now and then.

Looks like the ponies held up their ends of the bargain, but I fell short on getting a better handle on my emotions (confidence, focus, patience) and some of the related goals suffered. Always a work in progress :)

The field doesn't look bad at a distance, but the reality is we're drowning in mud and water!

April Goals:

-Continue with March goals that weren't completed
-but, Be realistic re: goals with Ginger and plans for her. Have a good chat with S and vet about plan heading forward
-Get Bridget more confident/enthusiastic about cantering in the ring. Better transitions and more than one 20m circle at a time :) 
-Continue building up canter distance on the trails to help with above
-Clinic third week of April - try to ensure it's a confidence booster/fun time for us both
-Mock show Easter weekend. Pick a couple of dressage tests to run through and schedule some lessons then as well. Get organized for camping out at show grounds and make it fun for Bridget!
-Trailer to big arena and put together a small jump course with lots of room to build momentum. See if that helps Bridget find a purpose!
-Make it to at least one Backcountry Horsemen ride and educational meeting.
-Need to shop for a new helmet.

Sweet, Itchy Ginger

Our warm weather and early spring means the big mare has already been doing the scratchy dance and rubbing her tail and belly a little bit. Poor thing, looks like the insects are already tormenting her.

And she only just grew her mane back to a reasonable length. Pic is from last week I think - I need new ones, her summer coat is coming in and she's a super dark shiny bay at the moment. So pretty

 (As a side note, when I explained to G that Ginger has sweet itch and is allergic to midges he thought I meant The Midge aka Bridget and was thoroughly confused for a day or two before he asked me to clarify lol)

Don't worry Ginger, it's the other midges that you're allergic to.

I know in the past people have been interested in what exactly we're doing to manage her sweet itch. Last year was the first year it was really bad and not kept mostly in check with fly spray along with some Swat on her midline and around her udder. She did alright until the fall, when we got a bit caught out when the bugs got bad for a week or so and I was away. I really think the trick with sweet itch is to be proactive and keep a handle on it. If you fall behind and your horse has a bad day or two and itches themselves silly, the whole situation seems to blow up and nothing helps anymore -- the next thing you know your horse has raw spots and sections of mane missing. Ask me how I know.

I consulted with the vet last fall, so this year, we do have the vet ready to prescribe a steroid injection should things get out of hand again. For now though, with his blessing, we're doing the 'wait and see' approach. Here's our normal line up of preventative products:

Diaper rash zinc cream. My secret weapon for her belly and udder area and what I use almost daily. Cheap and effective because the bugs don't bite through it and it' soothes itchy, broken skin. The negative? It attracts dirt and I have a mucky mess to clean up before reapplying. Probably not the best to use on certain areas if your horse doesn't like you touching them there, since you will have to clean it off eventually.

This is handy for the same reasons as above, with the added bonus of containing bug repellent. The downside? It's a small container and the $ add up. Also, it attracts dirt and needs cleaning up now and then, although not as badly as the zinc cream. I tend to use a minimal amount of this mostly for the repellent aspect - I like the idea of it 'sticking' on and being harder to rube/wipe off than sprays. I use more if there is a spot she's rubbed raw and I want the extra insurance it won't spread.

The powder for her mane and tail, the lotion for her belly. I use this if/when she gets itchy and the zinc cream isn't enough.  The lotion is a lot lighter and less greasy than the swat or zinc cream, so it's great for daily applications without the mess. Again though, for daily applications on a horse, this could be $$ and I only use it if I see she's been scratching a certain place and it's not an open wound. Best to be smart about your fly sprays and management and not rely completely on anti itch products

Of course, I also use a ton of fly spray. We've tried natural (tea tree or citronella, marigold, chrysanthemum) and we've tried the 'nasty' stuff with little difference in results. Nothing seems to last more than a couple of hours. This year we're switching to a spot on treatment:

Management wise, we leave her in later in the morning and bring her in before the bugs get bad in the evening. I opt not to use a fly sheet, since she really gets bothered under her belly/between her hind legs where a sheet can't protect. The barn owners are awesome and did some further drainage work last fall in hopes of there being less standing water this spring to attract the bugs. A nice gesture, but our climate is a tough one. The upcoming 200 mm of rain over the next 3 days will probably overwhelm even the best drainage!

Since I am at the barn every day grooming and visiting anyways, it's not a huge deal for me to apply these products as needed. If I was busier or Ginger had a bigger issue, I'd be going with the vet injections or prescription antihistamines for sure (and I still will if I feel my prevention measures aren't working). We'll see how we fare this summer, here's hoping we keep it under control and pony has a mane left next fall.

Choose Your Own Adventure

The clinician the other weekend made several comments re: Bridget's lack of willingness and me being too tolerant/forgiving of it. There were also a few comments saying I should be riding at a higher level than the Midge can get me to. Rather than give us exercises to work on or tools to get us on the same page, I felt like she was saying Bridget just isn't worth the effort and I should be riding something else. I could brush that off since I had my own thoughts about the clinican and also no big dreams of being a dressage star with Midge. Then, some other people in my life were there and took that as their opening to weigh in re: the pony as well. It was kind of awful. Ever since, I've been thinking about each and every comment. I know everyone means well, after all. Life really would be easier if I owned a pony that could do it all (and wanted to do it all!). Of course it would be nice to own a horse who really wants to please it's rider and found things easier. Yes, horses are too expensive and time consuming to 'waste' your time on the wrong one. Of course I wouldn't mind something I could take to a show tomorrow. Maybe I do deserve better. Maybe I should sell her and suck it up and ride Ginger instead if I want to show. And most shamefully, hmm yes it would be nice to not always have the horse every one else is saying "thank goodness it's you and not me riding that"!

So today, I saddled up my little Bridget mare and didn't invite anyone else along. I needed an hour or two on  my own with the pony without all that external feedback and second guessing. We went for a nice walk down the road, then diverted to a forest trail that takes you out to a logging road that sort of loops back around to the road again. It's about an hour and a half loop if you walk/trot it.

Trotting on down the road

The first trail portion ended up being extremely mucky and basically submerged in water in a lot of places. My plan for some relaxed thinking time was quickly shelved. Midge was unsure about some of the deeper sections, but found a safe way through without getting panicky. She was also spooky about a couple of the wooden bridges, since it seems like someone's been in there working and it looks a bit different. She went when I asked though and got a big pat. We ended up having to jump the final crossing, but again she was careful and sure footed, even with a muddy approach and landing and some tree trunks waiting to catch my knees. I did this same trail with Ginger a couple of weeks ago and it was a lot more 'exciting' even though the footing and water situation was way better then. Midge gets the gold star for extreme off roading.

One of the nicer sections.

Our little adventure just reaffirmed for me how great this horse is, and all the uncertainty over being competitive and showing was gone. I was back to plan A and had S's homework in mind - namely, cantering on the trail as much as possible to build up Bridget's strength and confidence. We popped out on the old logging road and Bridget was immediately thinking we should trot. I took her up on that and off we went at a nice clip, even through the big puddles and over the rockier sections. I focused on not nagging her, just reminding her now and then to stay straight on my contact and keep the pace. When I asked for canter, it was so immediate and forward I was surprised and got slightly left behind. Yay for better transitions :) We spent the remainder of our side road loop doing trot/canter transitions and Bridget was totally 'on'. We walked the last little bit on the busy road home on a loose rein and just enjoyed the sunshine and saying hi to all the neighbouring horses in their fields. All in all, a good ride - she was pretty spooky and 'up' but this was also the first time where I've really felt like she's been consistently taking me along with no encouragement, even at the canter. It's nice to feel like there is always more gas in the tank and another gear there waiting should you ask!

About a second after I took this picture, I asked Bridget "Are those your canter ears?" And she obediently cantered off  part way through the word canter. And I nearly bit it since I was unprepared and my hands were busy putting my phone away in my jacket. My question wasn't as funny/sarcastic as I thought.

Final thoughts. Bridget is a keeper, of course. You'd have to pry this pony from my cold dead hands. I wouldn't want anything hotter or more forward than I had today. I wouldn't want anything less surefooted. I certainly don't want anything more spooky! It's nice she's not herdbound. Wonderful that she needs no shoes and is generally very easy to care for. I love that she's essentially fearless. I've never, ever owned another horse I would happily tack up and take out for a random trail ride on my own through tricky terrain and along busy roads at W/T/C.

Sure, I could go buy a great hunter or dressage project and go out showing with my friends and maybe even win some ribbons. That would be fun too and something I'd really love to do. But my current reality is that I live in the middle of nowhere and have a 15 min hack on a busy road to the nearest ring. I don't yet own a trailer. I'm on a budget,  I board and it's fairly rustic. There is no local vet, nor much in the way of local instruction. Most of my friends want to trail ride. I can struggle with my confidence. For all her supposed faults, Bridget fits my current needs very, very well. Maybe we won't amount to much by traditional standards, and maybe our flat work is going to be a lot more time and effort than is 'worth it', but I'd like to think we're still going to have a whole fun finding our own way to wherever we're headed.


On a more humorous note - G is Bridget's biggest fan and when told about the naysayers, asked "What's wrong with her? She's awesome! She's like having a big dog. Don't listen to those people! If you want faster or fancier, I'll buy you a fast car. Slow and safe is good on horses. Just let her walk everywhere if that's what she wants, and be happy!" :)

Schooling

Bridget goes to school! Really - the indoor riding arena we trailer to was built as part of a program for school kids and lesson horses. They're on spring break so Bridget gets to go to school instead :)

 For someone feeling a bit burnt out, I've done a surprising amount of riding over the past few days. After my fun ride on Saturday, my lesson on Sunday was back to behind the leg, slow Bridget and not worth a detailed recap. Such is life with baby ponies. Today's ride in the indoor was slightly better, but not by much...we still had a LOT of moments that felt like this:

Outtake from Saturday - I'm like :Go pony go! (missing hand may or may not contain a dressage whip) And pony is like NO, I will invert myself and pretend I wear concrete boots instead. While getting up out of the saddle has certainly helped get her thinking GO, I still really don't have many pictures of her cantering truly forward with any sort of pleasant expression - she's usually waiting for any excuse to stop (and in the right mood, she quite literally will come to a sudden complete stop if you let off your driving aids. It sucks).

It's a case of one step forward and then two or more back. Just when I think we've solved something we're back to struggling with the basics. I've never owned a pony who is less interested in pleasing her rider - just like when she is in the herd she is super independent and confident her way is the best way. Such confidence in herself is a fabulous thing out on the trail or in new situations where she is interested, but is a doubled edged sword when it comes to actually training the little beastie or when she gets bored or tired of the program. She definitely keeps you thinking. It's a vicious cycle because she tests and pushes you into having to correct her, then gets wildly offended that you did so. Under normal circumstances, I'd expect her to be the alpha mare in the field, but since she seems to march to her own drum she sort of hangs out on her own and the other horses just kind of ignore her when they're not getting after her for being pushy. In a way it's nice to see I'm not the only one who she constantly pushes at and annoys! Thank goodness she's so cute.

Still sulking post ride today because she forgot her manners and crowded me and got a talking to. Or maybe she simply objects to Ginger's extra large hand me down cooler. Hard to say :)

I have another couple of clinics coming up in April. Fingers crossed for some good breakthroughs and fun times!

Fair Weather Rider

After last weekend, I'm ashamed to admit I've been in a bit of a funk. Partly due to just being tired, partly due to some of the clinic comments/feedback regarding my little Bridget mare, partly due to the meltdown Ginger had, some feedback there (and of course her current lameness). I needed a little horsey time out, so after my ride on Tuesday when the weather changed to icky rain and wind it was a bit of a relief. I used the weather as a great excuse to hide in the house and watch Netflix with the baby kitty and forget riding for a few days.

When the sun briefly popped out today, G suggested a barn trip. Going to the barn is rarely his idea, so I have a feeling it was his quiet way of doing a horsey intervention and getting me back at it.

This might have to be a blog banner or something

I didn't really have a plan for today's ride, I just knew we all needed to have fun. With that in mind, I set up a small cross rail against the wall on each long side, and some trot poles up the center. It's a set up I might repeat in our little ring, since it provided a nice visual 'wall' across the center of the ring and kept the pony from bulging through the shoulder on her 20m circles on either end (and me arguing with her over it). Mostly though, after the awful canter exercises we did in the clinic that ended in her basically shutting down and offering zero forward, I wanted to give her a fun exercise to encourage her to move out and enjoy herself. In previous lessons, she's got the idea of taking me to the jumps and through poles at the trot. I hoped the same set up would also prove effective with the canter and give her a visual goal to keep her forward and motivated.

Going through a pole at trot first

It totally worked! She actually caught me a little off guard by happily cantering her first baby fence with zero hesitation. Go Midget! A couple of more goes on the left rein and she was picking up the canter immediately when asked and maintaining it with very little nagging. I was so pleased! Greg was so surprised and excited by Bridget's mad skills he forgot to take pictures, instead opting to bump up the jumps a bit. (Spoiler alert - he never did manage to take a picture of us actually jumping anything beyond an awkward landing shot the world doesn't need to see) He was so excited it was a bit motivating, and we cantered the 'big' (about 24" lol) vertical without issue as well. Come time for right rein (her harder direction, we literally got two strides of right lead canter last weekend in an hour of trying) and I asked him to put everything back down to ground poles to keep it easy for her. Our first transition sucked and we needed to go back to a trot, but surprise, surprise she picked it up immediately after that and off we went and cantered some ground poles. It wasn't a fluke either, because she picked up the right lead consistently a few more times for me. It's certainly her harder side, but I think I'm starting to get a handle on how I need to set her up for it and I think she's getting the idea of what I'm asking. I'm pleased there are no lasting effects from last week's meltdowns. She still can't canter an entire circle on the right lead, but we're getting there. I need to be more aware of using the right lead when we are out on the road and trails too so she can build up strength- if I don't think about it I will always ask for the left one since we ride on the left hand side of the road and I seem to feel more comfortable with pony slightly bent to the road center rather than leading leg towards the ditch! I suspect with me being left sided/handed as well I'm the biggest part of the problem.

She looks so fierce all locked on to the jump :)

Right lead canter proof

All in all, exactly the ride I was looking for - short and sweet, and almost entirely fun. I didn't ask her to come on the bit or even bend overly properly - I just wanted a happy, forward pony and that's exactly what I had. Something to think about as well - without me attempting to keep an even contact and balance her up, our departs were still immediate, pretty balanced, and way less argumentative or sucked back. Maybe that's where we need to be at the moment, just letting her figure out where her feet need to be and saving my input for a little later down the training process. It's the exact opposite to the 'ride every stride' concept I was encouraged to embrace last weekend, but it's working so I might have to rebel for now. We'll see what S thinks.

No clue what I'm doing once again but pony is adorably trotting around on her loose rein so it's a keeper.

Good pony!!

Tomorrow is lesson day with S. She came to watch my rides at the clinic so I'm interested to hear what her take aways were and whether she changes our plans a bit moving forward.

Here's Johnny!

So, our tack room door is some kind of antique door that came with the barn. It previously had some sort of glass insert. that has obviously been removed in the name of safety. We are left with an oddly shaped hole above the doorknob. Bridget loves to peek through there any time she's in the barn and you're on the other side of the door.

Cute, right?

Except, sometimes it gets a little out of hand and feels like she's coming through the door. And all I can think of is that scene from 'The Shining':

Ahhhhh! Not cute at all!