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!

AE Blog Hop: 12 Tough Questions

I just kind of casually slid that whole planning-to-move-the-horses-home thing into my last post. In retrospect, it might have seemed like it's a new plan, but as with so many things horsey, I've been obsessing considering the concept for a long time and believe it or not, prior to this blog my horses did live at home on that same property with me. I'll post the reasoning for revisiting that plan soon along with my new barn design inspirations. Actual plans to follow in a future post...I have a few small details I want to iron out, plus we don't even have the building permits yet so it feels almost like tempting fate! A tiny part of me is still hopeful I'll win the lottery or we'll find a last minute deal on something bigger too :) 

Just in time to beat my planned extra long weekend of horsey activities (I am SO ready for this!),  here's a fun blog hop. Thank you to Alberta Equest!

Q1. What hobbies do you have outside of riding?

Way, way too many. Basically anything creative and hands on appeals to me. I thrive on being busy, interested, and learning new things. Lately, I'm loving figuring out my new camera. Sometimes I work on my old vehicles. I really enjoy gardening and carpentry as well. We also do quite a bit of hiking. Lately, my work has been full of fun projects designing some new web apps and mapping themes. My career is nothing I thought I'd ever do as a kid, but I have to admit a lot of aspects of it are a really good fit for me and there's a crossover of projects that appeal to me outside of work as well.

Fun with cameras

Q2: What is your boarding situation?  Are you happy with it?

I'm pretty much self boarding on someone's property. I grew up with the barn owners' kid so I've known them forever. I love them, but honestly it's a bit of the worst of both worlds in that I have all the responsibility of self care, plus the expense of board, travel to the barn, and compromises in how things are set up and run - it's very rustic compared to most barns and sometimes I am basically renting a tiny field. The horses seem really, really happy there though, so it's worth the extra expense and work. There is not really any such thing as a full service barn here, and there is a real lack of land, so I'm very lucky to have the place I do!

Lots of little individual fields, the horses love it!

Q3:  What's on your horsey-related wish list?

Sophie needs a dressage saddle. Bridget needs hers fitted again. I need a trailer. Other than that, I think I have what I need...I can't afford to look at 'wants' (I'd love a new show coat) - I need to save for that new saddle and trailer!

Q4: What is your most expensive horsey-related item?

The horses? I didn't spend big money on either, but I'm thrifty when it comes to the rest of my gear and buy the majority of my tack second hand, and everything else gets bookmarked until it's on a good sale.

Q5: What was the hardest horsey-related decision you've had to make lately?

I've been lucky to not have anything too difficult to deal with! A minor thing (although it makes good financial sense) is that it's been kind of hard to take a year out of lessons and showing while Sophie grows up. 

Q6:  What's something you feel you can't live without in your routine?

An extra I don't necessarily need but always buy is detangler. Both girls have really thick manes and tails and fluffy pony coats, plus they live out year round. As I'm sure you've figured out, I'm cheap, so I just buy whatever's on sale, sometimes from the drug store rather than a horse specific product.

Q7: What's on your horsey-related calendar for the rest of the summer?

It's been a super quiet year and that's not going to change. I'm going to a going away party soon at my old barn for one of the working students who's off to the Netherlands to train. I'm planning to take Bridget to our local fall fair mid month, and there is a clinic I'd like to take Sophie to at the end of the month. 

Q8:  What is one thing you would willingly change about your horse?

Bridget would be more interested in being a sporty pony, Sophie would be less mare-y and silly. I'm lucky, because both of those are things that can improve!

Champion at sleeping, tho

Q9:  What is something you most want to improve on with you and your horse?

Bridget owes me nothing, so we're just having fun. With Sophie, I'd like to skip ahead to the part where we are under saddle and effectively communicating there :)

Q10:  What has been your [current] horses most severe injury?

Bridget has an ongoing minor lameness we haven't really pinpointed. It's super mild, and she's way more on than off. Last year when I moved Sophie to the other barn for the winter one of the horses went after her and she has a nasty scar right down her side from shoulder to hip, maybe from teeth?Fricken grays and palominos scar from everything! Overall so far I've been really lucky with them both.

You can kind of see it, even from this far away

Q11:  What do you feel your biggest downfall is as a rider?

Confidence. Weight. I'm pretty inclined to get in my head and think I'm doing it wrong. My weight is always a struggle...I ride better when I am thinner and know it, so I can be pretty hard on myself about that because I don't seem to consistently keep the pieces together to keep my weight down.

Q12:  What feeds your motivation?

That feeling with horses when everything is 'right'! The barn mates and coaching at the competition barn as well, as I mentioned above, some of them are off training in Europe and setting their sights on Olympic teams and things, which you can't help but find pretty inspirational!

One more sunset, just because

Little Discoveries

I'm content with my decision to put the horses and blogging a little on the back burner the past month, but I sure miss both! I've got commitments again this coming week, but then I'm FREE, (free at last!) and I can get back to the things I enjoy.

The only good thing about taking a time out is the enforced step back makes it so much easier to see the bigger picture and reset goals and priorities appropriately.

Here are a few of the things I've inadvertently discovered (or rediscovered!) in the past year of relatively low key horse activities, and that really solidified in my mind this past month:

- I enjoy having horses, but a huge part of it for me is having goals and riding regularly. I start to feel a bit burnt out if all I have time for is the day to day care. I'm really having a hard time being 'in between' horses at the moment while I wait for Sophie to grow up a bit more.

Hurry up and grow, already :)

- I miss lessons and having my coach in the same town SO much. This was expected, and I knew it would be hard. What does surprise me is that I don't miss the busy lesson and competition barn environment at all. I miss the people and definitely the coaching, but not the rest of it.

- On that note, my husband and I went to look at a proper farm of our own this weekend, and I felt overwhelmed just looking at it. WAY too much work. There was a time I would have been all over it, it's been the dream for so long. Now though, I think I'd be happier having the horses at a low key boarding place or in our backyard on our tiny, but manageable, place (1.3 acres!)

It seems like my ponies thrive in smaller spaces with imperfect grazing anyhow.

- I miss eventing. I miss jump schools. Who would have thought? (Plus, I sent my jump saddle back for repairs what feels like FOREVER ago and it's still MIA. Sad.) I'm admittedly a relative newcomer to jumping and a bit of a Nervous Nellie about it, but it was such an empowering feeling to always be pushing that comfort zone.

Definitely some defensive riding going on, lol

- Also, I miss showing! At first it was a relief to not have anything on the schedule. Now I really, really miss it and have to restrain myself from making show plans for next year (considering S isn't even under saddle yet, I think those goals can wait, lol) I halfway contemplated giving it another go with Bridget, but yeah, that's crazy talk (right?)

We'd have to interrupt her very busy schedule though.

- In so many ways, if I have the tools and knowledge, I actually ride better on my own. I can get anxious in lessons or get pushed past my happy place. There is value to that, but I'm finding I'm more than motivated enough and tough enough on myself that skipping the odd lesson isn't a really bad thing. I think moving forward I will try to keep to a regular lesson schedule, but keep it biweekly or monthly rather than the once or twice a week I was at previously.

I've said it a bunch before, but Bridget really is thriving with a less active schedule.

- I don't miss riding other people's horses, or taking lessons on horses that aren't mine. I've had a few offers lately to ride the type of horse I should be super excited about. But really, it just feels like work. I know it's good experience to ride more horses, but meh, I am not a pro and just riding my own horses well is a worthy enough goal.

Just warming up a month or so ago and we both look pretty unmotivated and in need of coaching intervention :)

- I have a ton of other interests and hobbies, but horses are the only thing that make me pretty miserable to put on hold, even short term.

Such a shame she's never as excited to see me as I am her.

So, with all that in mind, here's what I'm aiming for in the future. They're things I've probably thought about before on this blog, but now I'm certain about setting them as goals:

I want to build a new barn on our small property so the horses can live at home if and when my current boarding situation falls through (it's not permanent and that's OK). Building a new barn means I get the best of both worlds - a quiet little place set up the way I like, but no giant mortgage that would come with buying a new property. I'd also be able to find someone to fill in while I'm away a lot easier than if I was in the middle of nowhere on a farm.

As you'd guess from the above, I've decided to keep my current job and work schedule, so I'll continue to commute for work and the horses will stay at home rather than moving back south to board at my coach's place. I hope to get a decent trailer to make day trips for lessons once or twice a month a reasonable thing - even with ferry and travel costs (and trailer payments) I'd be saving a ton of money over paying full board so much closer to the big city.

That means there is no end in sight for me posting scenic ferry ride pictures, lol

And of course, I'll be back at it with the daily rides and outings in September and hope to get Sophie going lightly under saddle this fall. She's just had another awkward growth spurt, so it's probably a good thing that I planned to put things off for a month!

Upcoming events: Fall Fair with Bridget mid September, clinic with Sophie end of month.

ICYMI: Some Happy Things

Things are still a bit chaotic around here, so no real updates from me. The horses are happy and well, of course...no news is good news :)

Proof of life. Also, not starving :)

 I thought I'd take a moment to share a few blog posts I've really enjoyed in the past bit. They serve as a really great counterpoint to all the negative news in the equestrian world of late. Get ready to smile!

Wild Hearts Can't Be Broken - Fraidy Cat Eventing. Emma and Charlie are inspiration and goals for everyone. Not only do they have a great partnership, it seems like not that long ago he was baby bronto-smashing crossrails. Check out the pictures now! 

TSC Dressage Show: First Level Debut - Two and A Half Horses. How impressive are these two? Cathryn's brought Annie along from green been to solid all around horse (check out their tail riding and jumping posts too!) and I'm always inspired because her equestrian life pretty closely mirrors mine in that we both live in pretty isolated communities  - I know how hard it can be to get everything from vet to hay to training. She's beyond dedicated!

Rated Second: Here We Come - Cob Jockey. Another awesome pair. They're going out and doing the thing and crushing goals, despite setbacks and Jen's hectic schedule.

EmTee Eventures. Just a vlog channel with some besties out eventing in the British countryside. I won't lie, being the grumpy human I can be some days the positive energy from these two is TOO much for me, but they're guaranteed to make you smile.

LWilliams got married! and the pictures are fantastic.

Liz Stout is living the dream, building a new barn and moving her horses home. Check out the progress photos, so cool. Also, her most recent ride recap is fantastic and goals for all of us.

Madigan's First Show. If anyone deserves to have a fantastic baby horse, it's Stephanie.

I'll stop here. I'm not intentionally leaving anyone out, but realistically if I include everyone's posts I've been inspired by even in the last month or two, we'd be here a very, very long time. Originally, I was going to include some articles on mindset and some accomplishments of some real life friends, but we'll stick to you guys, otherwise I'd be writing a novel :)

We'll finish with another ferry scene from last night, for Lytha

If It Helps

In the spirit of Emma's What are we doing about it? post today, here is my small contribution. This might not change anyone's mind, but I'll put it out there anyway, just in case.

Recently, I was discussing how I am a bit of an insomniac and can have quite a bit of trouble sleeping. My husband was tossing out ideas to help and I was like "well you know I think it's because when I was a kid, at night when I was sleeping was when he said he was going to kill me."

Apparently, I tossed that out like it's a perfectly normal thing. Even all these years later.

I did not have a happy childhood. I had an immediate family member with a pretty severe mental illness that resulted in a lot of ups and downs. You really never knew what you were going to get, or even if it was based on an event that actually happened. The bad days were more frequent than the good.

As with all things mental illness at the time, you didn't talk about it. The clues were there for teachers and other adults to see, and looking back it was probably common knowledge. Some tried to intervene but the tools to do something about it were not there.

On the even sadder side, along with the good people trying to help, there are a lot of not so good people out there who are also really good at identifying children who are vulnerable.

The thing I really want to emphasize and think is very important for people to consider is that as a kid I knew I was often unhappy, scared, angry, even suicidal. But if you asked me why, I would have never been able to tell you, because I didn't know what was wrong.

Without any other context, I thought my life was normal. I was sure that my friends with seemingly happy lives were just extra good at hiding things and thought I just needed to be tougher or better to be like them. I thought there was something very wrong with me to be so anxious and unhappy. A direct question asking whether everything was ok at home would have been met with an "It's fine" from me.

It would have never occurred to me that I had any rights, or that I mattered to anyone. I had zero idea about what behaviour in adults was acceptable and what wasn't. I had no clue this wasn't simply my cross to bear for being a bad person. I might have even argued with you if you offered the opinion that things at home weren't safe or acceptable. I truly believed it was all normal.

I was a pretty smart kid in many ways - I managed to look after myself and get honor roll grades throughout school. But still, I DID NOT have the tools or maturity to understand much of what was going on in the adult world or how to deal with it.

I'm not writing this to make anyone feel sorry for me. I AM writing it in the hopes you might consider taking a stronger stance in supporting education and  legislation, (and yes, things like SafeSport) to help provide minors (or really anyone who needs help) with options and rights and positive experiences. Discuss mental illness freely and don't stigmatize it - it is a disease like any other. Consider that sometimes victims might not know they were a victim until well after the fact. Consider that those who said nothing at the time may have simply not had the knowledge, tools, or support to do so.

Lastly, just try to listen and be kind. It matters.

Thank you.

Time Out

Just a quick check in. This seems to be the summer of unpredictable things happening and as a result, my riding time and carefully laid plans have suffered.

Short quiet hacks around the neighbourhood are the best I can do right now, and are the best part of my day!

I'll straight up admit I used to be one of those people who believed if you want something bad enough you'll find time for it. Generally speaking I do find that to be true, but this month, not so much...I simply can't prioritize riding right now due to some family things and some unexpected emergencies at my work.

It's a case of nothing really going right, suddenly and all at once! Not to mention just keeping up with the day to day horse chores where I board is more time consuming and difficult in the summer (The summer fields are typically far from a water tap, plus picking poo out of long grass is...frustrating). My saddle is broken and had to be sent back to the manufacturere for repairs, so that puts a damper on things too. Being the proactive person I am, I'm researching plans and building and zoning bylaws to build a barn at home to keep things simpler, also I'm perusing the job ads hard. But, of course that also has been adding time and stress.

At least both ponies are looking great!

I promise, I'm not whining. I'm lucky to have the life I do. But for my own sanity, I'm just going to get the horses out when I can for the remainder of the month and not stress too hard about it. I've extended my summer schedule through September and my plan is to return to 5-6 day a week rides and outings then. My goals remain the same and I want to be back to lessons and showing next spring, hopefully with Sophie.

Add mane pulling to my to do list :)

I feel like this has been the most boring blog ever lately, but I have to ask you to bear with me a little further, while we take a small break to organize and regroup.

See you soon!

A Bedtime Story

When we last visited our favorite princess pony she was in the grip of an evil spell. Her Prince Charming had betrayed her and put her under his control. Winter had overtaken the land, and there was much sorrow.

Thankfully, there was still hope shining on the horizon.

In the nick of time, our intrepid blogger rescued the princess and separated her from her not so charming prince. Despite his best efforts to keep her under his spell, the distance was too great and by the very next day she forgot his charms. Happiness and calm reigned once more, and peace returned to the farm.

Even Mother Nature rejoiced, as the rains receded, summer resumed, and the pasture lands were restored to the ponies.

And everyone lived happily ever after. The end :)

Redux

We're currently experiencing a crazy amount of rain! I'm actually a weird person who likes rain, so I don't mind at all, especially given how dry it's been and all the associated water shortages and fire danger that goes with that.

The horses seem to be loving it too and last I checked were still standing out there getting pressure washed by mother nature.

Sophie had a rather large amount of burrs in her forelock this afternoon, so I thought I'd be a good owner and get some detangler on that and give her her daily vitamins and minerals at the same time.

Pictures obviously not from today - unless you have underwater gear its not camera or phone appropriate weather out there.

Except, sorry T, that is the wrong thing to do according to Miss Sophie. You see, she still can.not.function if she's not immediately next to and in sight of her boyfriend. He loses his mind, she loses hers.

I know, I know, this could be a great learning opportunity. But, well, I was kind of just over it. So, off we went and I tied her at the barn to groom her rather than mess around with a frantic pony on the loose in her paddock. And the screaming and dramatics were pretty intense. Interestingly, her boyfriend is actually the worse of the two, but she's a bit of a drama queen and feeds off whatever energy is around her so she's guilty of playing the part of silly herdbound horse too!

Not sure what was so interesting about the wall :)

It's no excuse, but I'd had a tough day until that point and was rapidly losing patience with the screaming and dancing around. Normally, I'm very patient, but not so much today. Of course, see above about S feeding off whatever energy is available... so mine was only making it worse. At that point, the barn owner's husband came to chat. He's a mechanic and I have an old car and truck, and so we got to looking at my car and planning the remaining work on the truck and generally chatting.....

And, about an hour later I was like "Oh sh*t! I'm the worst horse person ever, I walked away and forgot I left my horse tied out in the rain! Gotta go!"

It was suspiciously quiet, and since S was historically fairly good at breaking ties and halters when I got her (now she just unties herself - small win?), I assumed she'd got loose and was probably visiting her boyfriend.

But, when I walked out of the shop to look,  Sophie was quietly standing at the rail, right where I left her, one leg cocked, dozing in the rain.

Kind of like this, but wet.

Lesson of the day: Walking away and ignoring your horse isn't a bad thing, sometimes. Probably don't forget them out in the rain if you can help it though.

Lesson 2 of the day: Sometimes you need to give yourself an easy win. Instead of putting Sophie back in her paddock, I moved her to a different one away from her lover. Yes, she needs to learn to be less herdbound, but so does he and maybe having the two of them next to each other just isn't fair at this point in time. She's back next to the minis and the old draft horse, none of which she's particularly fond of, and that's maybe just what everyone's sanity needs right now.

S was upset to find that she's not able to hang out with her friend anymore and some frustration was expressed over that. Hormones are hard. She settled down after a bit though, and I am hopeful that my next visit to the barn will be peaceful!

Last week. I put her next to her buddy 5 days ago and I can see shes lost weight since this picture. She was too obsessed over him to eat her hay. So crazy.

I put Bridget next to S's lover, so he still has a friend to obsess over. Of course, Bridget doesn't care about that, so it's all good.

I know from reading your blogs that some of you have similar horsey pairs that it's best to not trailer or stable with. It's interesting how the dynamics work. S is very brave and calm with me alone or with Bridget or another quiet horse, but the insecure, high energy buddy was definitely not doing her any favors!

Fingers crossed we'll get back on track this weekend. I think a part of the recent pony drama is that I have been busy and Sophie is the kind of pony who will do best with a regular schedule and plenty to keep her busy. Once she's under saddle, that will be a bit easier to accomplish.

A final misty picture from yesterdays ferry ride, just for Lytha

The Marey-est of Them All

Mirror, mirror...who is the marey-est of them all?

It's not a secret that I'm no fan of screaming horses. So, maybe it shouldn't surprise you that I'm also not much of a fan of mare drama.

 Don't get me wrong, I like mares. I might even prefer them to geldings. But the hormonal, peeing everywhere, screeching, kicking, can't function because a gelding looked at them kind? I've always been grateful I don't own one of those.

And, once again the universe laughs at me, because Sophie is all that, plus the high pitched screaming. I've been trying to pretend its not real, or just a passing phase, but yeah, she's pretty darn emotional.

Today was a bit of a struggle for us both. I moved her to a field with more grass this morning. She realized she had a cute neighbour gelding half a second later, and was in raging heat half a second after that. Such joy.

Lovely.

I returned later in the afternoon to ride Bridget and take Sophie for an outing, and by then Sophie was in full on obsessive gelding stalker mode. Also, covered in pee, because that's cute.

Dramatic reenactment of creepy stalking, post outing (The sweaty saddle marks give it away)

She could.not stand tied out of his sight. She screamed incessantly. He returned the screaming. It took me about 30 minutes to groom and tack her up because we needed frequent groundwork breaks to get her focus back on me and her immediate surroundings.

Looking good, tho. Just need a brain install and she'll be pretty decent ;)

Off we ventured down the road. I opted to bring the longe line and just go to the arena - it seemed a good idea to give her a job and burn off some off the feelings.

She started out ok on the longe, then realized it felt like work and decided to try opting out. Then she had to work harder and got sweaty, and apparently being sweaty is very, very NOT OK when you are a princess and a cute guy is waiting for you at home.

I actually had to be a bit tough on her which honestly I find difficult to do. I tend to be on the too encouraging/easy side of the spectrum, and so there came a time with Bridget when she was quite willing to give me the tiniest effort and think that was more than adequate :) I'd like to avoid that with Sophie, so I'm trying to keep the expectations very consistent. ie her feelings or our surroundings on any given day don't get to be an excuse to compromise on effort or focus.

And so, we worked hard. There was rearing, there was kicking. There was bolting. There was basically every action she could think of to make it clear to me she had other, more important things on her mind. Too bad I'm the most important thing she needs to worry about ;) Long story short, I had to be tough and we got to a good place. Princess Mare was totally tuned in to me, new boyfriend forgotten.

The walk home was silent. It was quite peaceful and enjoyable, actually.

Untacking was also quiet, easy, peaceful. Princess Pony, Ruler of Mares, was gone as if she never existed.

The good thing is that she's quite young, so I can hope challenges like today's will be a good education for daily life in a busier barn or at shows where she'll have different trailer mates and neighbours. Crossing fingers hard the dramatics get less as she gains life experience and I do my best to be calm and consistent.

I ran out of time, so Bridget will have to wait for another day. I'm pretty sure she's OK with that :)

Bridget's face, watching Sophie be ridiculous. She's not a fan, it disturbs her grazing serenity ;)

Busy, Busy

I don't know what gives, but I've been on my own mini emotional struggle bus the past week or so. It's come at a bad time too, because someone close to me experienced very sad loss and so I want to be strong and supportive, not falling apart!

The great thing about horses is that they're pretty undemanding - especially when summer pasture is available as a distraction. The really cool thing about my horses is they know me well enough that I can show up to the barn happy or sad and towing along whatever baggage I've got from the day and they're  both very forgiving of that. I know its unfair to bring that to them, but I'm not a perfect human and they seem willing enough to help me out a little :)

Love this pony.

Circumstances have necessitated a week off riding and adventuring, which just couldn't be helped. Bridget of course didn't mind at all, poor Sophie is feeling pretty needy and looking for attention, though. I've been giving her as many scratches as I have time for, and of course she's out in a bigger field so she has plenty of room to wander and things to nibble on. She's been doing her best to follow me out the gate every day though and been devoting a lot of time to "helping" me clean her field, so I think she's a bit bored.

Watching G leave. She whinnies for him when he leaves. It's pretty sad, but it's working in her favour  because he's a softie and can't help but like her when she's so obviously loving him :)

Bridget and I snuck out for a ride tonight (Friday), which was wonderful. It's been really hot, but we caught a bit of a rain storm and everything just felt so fresh and cool. The forest smelled so green and amazing and B was SO happy to be out. A very much needed outing for the both of us, I think. I'm so lucky to have the horses I do. They're so people oriented and I think they both enjoy heading out for adventures even when their main human isn't necessarily feeling 100%.

I accidentally bought the pink SWAT so now she has fluorescent pink spots on her face. Better than flies, tho :)

B was feeling pretty lively, so we made a stop at the club grounds on our way home and played with some pseudo dressage moves. She's not fit or strong enough to ask for it to be perfect or really super connected, but we find fun in the work and I'd like to think some of it is still respectable. We played with haunches in and spirals in the canter, and used that to get a nice balanced canter to walk transition. B was feeling quite spicy and leaping back up into canter as we spiralled back out, and I just let it happen because why not - she's not pushy about it and was just having fun (I think she had barrel racing on her mind, since that's what we did on our last visit!). I got a few strides of passage-y trot, which fell apart when I tried to let it out forward again too sharply and let the power out the front. B is not that strong anymore, and my timing is off, and that's OK. We have fun and I'd like to think it's great practice for me riding Sophie  :)

Looking very golden and shiny, despite a week of grooming neglect. Also suddenly looking more mature!

On a related note, I brought my eventing vest home with me...because Sophie's been coming along so well and I can actually imagine getting on the banana pony at some point this summer. Not saying it will happen in the very near future, but at least now I've got the vest ready, just in case ;) I like the idea of really lightly backing her this fall,  then small trail adventures over the winter. I'd love to take her to a couple of small shows next summer as a four year old, but even with that she's still got growing to do and waiting until late winter/early spring to start her properly won't hurt anything. Maybe we wait even more and her first show is as a five year old, that's fine too!

I know the fences in this field look a bit haphazard...they are a little ugly because this used to be the garden and I think deer proof was the priority at the time. It's safe though, just not pretty. There is electric to keep her off it as well.

I'm not sure I'll get another ride in this weekend. I'm busy with family things, but such is life. I'm hoping for a return to normal next week. I miss my routine and look forward to getting back into a groove.

Taking It Easy

I did end up taking Bridget to the barrel racing night, only to get there and have just one other person show up. Turns out it was cancelled, and justmyself and the other lady didn't get the memo.

It's been so freaking hot tho. It's maximum effort to commit to anything!

No worries though, we set up barrels anyway and had a blast. The funniest part is we're both English riders without a clue, so much trial and error was involved and descriptors like simple changes, canter pirouettes, and jumper turns were very much tossed around as part of our strategies.

Best pony. She's game to try anything !

Bridget seemed to enjoy herself. A friend of mine took video and pictures, and it looked like Bridget made some shockingly good turns and appeared to be quicker than I thought. Benefits of a pony, I guess! I'll share the media if my friend figures out how to send it to me, otherwise how will you all know it really happened?  ;)

Picture from last week, but pretty sure this was also our excellent and very authentic barrel racing get up, lol

Zipping around and just having fun reminded me of the stuff I like about jumping, and has me motivated to get my jump saddle back out. It will be good practice for me anyway. I still have thoughts of eventing Sophie sitting in the back of my mind.

Dressage pony goals for sure, but I'd like to see if she's brave enough to event a little too.

The remainder of our weekend was pretty non eventful. A few quiet rides around the neighbourhood, a spa day for both girls. Sophie got put out in a bigger field and I let her have a vacation. She's been such a good girl and we've been so busy it seemed like a midsummer week off wouldn't hurt!