WW: One More!

One more pic that was sent to me from the clinic the weekend before last. Bridget is like "Why must I put my feet here?", but did it anyway (although she was keeping an eye on me rather than focusing lol) Such a good pony.

I can't wait to get Ginger out to one of these clinics - she's so curious about things I think she'll love it as well!

Pushy Pony

I'm not sure if I ever mentioned a part of the reason I eventually sold my mare Lainey. Besides her lease actually being the perfect home. she was super alpha. We got along just fine on the surface, but it felt exhausting to me to have her constantly trying to test the boundaries. I'm a laid back, happy kind of person. I don't like conflict, and I'm sure she knew it, hence the continuous pushing of my buttons. Don't get me wrong, we had a lot of fun and she's an excellent horse, but I breathed a huge sigh of relief when super agreeable Ginger came into my life. I tell Ginger something once and she never toes that line ever again. It's kind of awesome.

Enter Ms Bridget. Or, 'Mini Lainey', as we've been jokingly calling her :) She may be small, but she's the boss of the herd. I'm starting to think that calm and confident personality must go hand in hard with being a more dominant horse. It's a bit weird to have to go back to having very defined rules and personal space after being so spoiled by Ginger. I was warned before I bought Bridget that they had problems with her being overly 'cheeky', so I've been a little more strict than I normally would be and it sounds like she's much better than she was. Luckily, Bridget is as kind as Ginger, so the pushiness isn't coming from a 'bad' place, more her just wanting to see if she can get out of work by pushing back at me (or maybe she's wanting a human as a pet...hmmm;). I've been noticing it a little bit under saddle, particularly on Saturday's ride when she was a bit excited, so today I opted to buckle down and do some lunging and groundwork.  I had an idea there might be some naughty pony antics that are easier for me to tackle from the ground.

Don't make eye contact with the mean teacher lady, whatever you do!

Sure enough, I had a pony that did not want to stay out or go to the right on the circle. Very persistently, and had a bit of a meltdown over the fact I wasn't going to let her turn back at a particular spot each time. Just green horse stuff and testing to see how serious I am about telling her where to move those feet. Also, the forward button was either all in or not an option. She knows better than that. It's funny how I must 'babysit' her under saddle but on the ground issues become really obvious! Since Pushy Pony is actually a very nice pony, she gave in right around when she started to feel like it was more work ignoring me and was excellent from then on. So nice to know I can get after her a bit if I need to and she isn't the type to hold a grudge over it. I've been reminded of the 'control the feet/control the mind' phrase the NH clinicians like to teach. I do think there is some truth to it.

We had a nice lazy hack down the road to start and finish off with, which I find a bit funny in a way...'Hey bad pony, just let me hop on so you can pack my lazy bum up to the ring so I can maybe discipline you a little and then you can pack me home again. Thanks!'. Really, though, I just wanted to give her a reward for her hard work and also reboot her mind a little in case this weekend's activities had her thinking trail rides are always super exciting.

Multiple people have noticed little Bridget is my shadow and wants to be everywhere I go. It's sort of awesome, but honestly feels a little bit weird at the moment. She is obviously convinced I'm her person but I'm still kind of getting used to the idea - she still feels like someone else's (awesome) horse to me!

 I hope to get Ginger out again tomorrow...I had a feeling there would be pony drama today and we all know how worried Ginger can get about that. She requires a totally different energy than what little Bridget needed today and I'm just not that good at being able to switch easily. Where Bridget would consider me whispering, Ginger would be offended by my 'shouting'. I know that sounds a little 'out there', but I promise you it's totally real - they're very, very different.

Ginger spy cam. It's impossible to get pictures of her without her wanting to say hi. I'm hiding in the barn here trying to be silent and taking super zoomed in pics through the crack in the door....

and...busted :) Must be all those treats I give her!

Saturday At The Lake

A very kind person offered to trailer Ms Bridget over for part of weekend Backcountry Horsemen event yesterday. We're so spoiled! I jumped at the chance for a last minute mini trip, although it was a little stressful trying to get organized on such short notice. Bridget trailered just fine, then we spent a bit of time getting used to the sights and sounds of the grounds where the camp out was held. I had to unexpectedly face some fears when I was unaccountably nervous, then realized the last time I had ridden in that arena was when I had a bit of a bad fall from Ginger. Silly brain. All was good, though and Bridget was a star. In order to keep things interesting we went for a ride up to the lake with some good friends in the afternoon. Bridget was excellent all day. She was a little worried about riding with so many horses and was a little impatient about standing now and then or venturing to close to horses that were moving in her general direction, but that's just baby stuff and something that I'm sure we'll work past very quickly. On to the pictures!:

Her little accomodations ended up being right behind a busy farmers market. Lots to see, but pony was excellent.

The horses were loving the water

Bridget was so excited about the lake. She wanted to go right in and go swimming!

This little halflinger and Bridget were making love-y eyes at each other all day.

I didn't let pony go in with the big horses for very long, since the water was very quickly up to my knees and filling my boots on little Bridget :)

Where We're At

 I'm off work, at home with nothing to do but ride and spend time with my awesome ponies, and the weather has been amazing. It's been years since I've had this much fun!

Bridget continues to be on the 'forward' program. She tends to want to do the bare minimum, so I'm still focusing on getting her thinking a little more ambitiously before we get too involved with anything else. I'll compare it to driving a car - at first she was stuck crawling along in first gear or so, now we're up to about third gear...which is better, but there's still room to go!

Cute baby pony.

I want this pace, but look at me being all impatient and asking for more.

A couple of strides later she's all muddled up..."Posting trot is weird! Also the world is moving too fast - I can't do this!" little pony says.

Back to a happier trot

Steering has also improved a ton in the last week or so. At a walk we can trick you into thinking she's got a lot more miles than she really does. Add some speed, though, like the above photos, and all bets are off. Pony brain can only handle so much at one time, and currently forward AND bending off my leg are individual efforts, not something that can always occur at the same time :) She did, however do her first proper turn on the haunches this week, which made me a very proud 'mom' indeed!

Playing with the idea of contact. Slowly but surely...we started with inverted, head in the air all day long if you even thought about touching her mouth...I'm beyond happy with this for the short amount of time she's been here. I really need to sit up and stretch my leg down, though! Always something :)

I'm realizing again how spoiled I am with Ginger, in that she's always naturally been more balanced and off my leg and wanting to move out, wanting to please you. Bridget is less athletic so things don't come as easily for her. She's also harder to convince that this working for a living thing is a good gig. She does best when we set her up with a really clear purpose that means more to her than 'because I told you so!"

Ginger came along for the ride today. She's the one striking a pose, of course :)

 Bridget's doing so well, really, and I keep counting my lucky stars she came into my life.

Such good ponies.

Ginger is also doing a lot better - her sweet itch is toning down. She still has a big scabby patch all along her belly and most of her mane missing, but it's not red or irritated anymore and seems to be healing up. I could use that as the reason I'm not riding her, because really, scabby sores on her girth do equal no riding, but honestly I've been having such fun with Bridget and was so focused on that clinic last week that this week was the first time I consciously thought I'd get Ginger going again (also just in time for a clinic this weekend - I`m terrible, I know). It wasn't until I went to do her girth up that I realized 'Oh yeah....girth not healed yet = no riding!' So yeah....sorry Ginger, your owner is a bit of a loser! Ginger has enjoyed a couple of outings with us this week regardless, and a ton of scratches on those hard to reach itchy spots, so she`s not feeling too neglected I hope. I do think I'll continue to bring them out together now and then. They get along well enough it shouldn`t be a big deal to pony one from the other, and they`re both so social - they enjoy a good visit with the neighbourhood!

Ginger keeps an eye on us and fills in as coach

Looking beautiful!

Ten Questions

Life continues on as per the new normal - which is awesome! I'm spending a few hours every day at the barn, either riding or grooming, or just hanging out. However, it's currently not very interesting blog material. Teaching a young horse forward and moving off your leg isn't the most exciting thing in the world, and this extra bit of summer heat has even Ginger mellowed out and non dramatic.

Thankfully, L Williams at Viva Carlos has ten questions for us!

1. Is your horse spooky or bombproof? Both are pretty spooky!

2. Does your horse have a long or short stride? Both have crazy long walk/trot strides for their size, but both have a naturally really up and down canter, so we'd have trouble making any hunter lines without some work.

3. Describe your current barn in 3 words: Relaxed. Friendly. Wonderful.

4. If you could switch barns, would you? Nope. Not with any of the other options available - my horses are so happy there!

5. Favorite brand of breeches? I like my Ariats. But the reality is I end up riding almost every day in a pair of Kerrits ones, so they win for comfort/durability.

6. How many blue ribbons do you have? Not too many, I only got into the showing thing later in life and now haven't shown for about 3 years again due to my ridiculous work schedule. Also, I'm just not that good ;) Lainey won me a few, and I've won some here and there riding other peoples horses. Maybe 15?

7. How many saddle pads do you own? Eleventy billion. And I keep using the oldest, most beat up one. 

8. Is your horse on your phone background/lock screen? Yes. Both. Always.

9. Do you go trail riding often? Yes, it's a cheap and simple way to show my horses the world. My goal for September is 2 to 3 times a week.

10. Favorite horsey movie? Tough one...off the top of my head I'll say The Man From Snowy River.

The Mark of A Good Pony?

Both the girls have a random thumb size white spot on their bodies. Neither looks anything like a scar, more a naturally occurring white spot. Ginger's is more obvious to see:

A little less obvious now that her coat is sunbleached - in the winter it really stands out and
drives the OCD part of me a little nuts:)

While Bridget's is more defined, but hidden under her throatlatch where her coat forms a whorl, like a little reverse star:

Yes, I crawled right underneath her to take this photo. Do not try this at home :)

I Cannot Be Trusted

To walk into a tack store alone. I have zero self control...I've been trying to find a nice halters for Ginger and Bridget and thought I'd make a quick check at our local tack store. I didn't even make it past the shelves of breeches by the door. They normally stock just the basics as far as english gear goes, but today they had a pile of super cute full seats. So, I got these:

I see our deck that desperately needs re-staining...but the light was better out there to give you the full effect of the plaid
awesomeness :) Get used to them now cause you'll be seeing a lot more of them!

Definitely NOT in the I'm-not-currently-working-and-paying-for-two-ponies budget. Oh well :)

I also got sent a few more clinic pictures from Day 1. please pardon my awful sweaty helmet hair - it was really hot out there! Here's my cute little girl showing you how horse sized teeter totters are no big deal:

She loves sticking her front feet up on things to explore - Ginger is the same...

I love the look on her face..this is right after it tipped lol

Clinic Recap

I'm hoping some better pictures will be forwarded on to me, for now you have to put up with the few pics I took when I wasn't riding.

Saturday, I rode up to the farm a little in advance of my lesson time. Mac, (Ginger's Morgan boyfriend) was in the same class so I had a riding buddy, yay! After giving the clinician a quick recap of Bridget's experience to date, he suggested I lead her through the obstacles the first time and then go from there. She proceeded to amaze everyone by going through the spooky tarps, over the bridges, up the bank, and even standing on the teeter-totter. (pics to follow , hopefully). Clinician guy was like "Why did you even bring her to this - she's awesome. That's a good horse!" So, we were all pretty happy with little Miss Bridget and she gained a lot of admirers. I stayed after our session to watch some riding lessons and Bridget was perfect about waiting in her little pen and camping out with me. We stayed for a potluck dinner and a drink, then headed home after a long and super fun day.

Happy Camper

Day 1, teaching Bridget to put her feet where asked

Good pony!

In case you wondered how a very tall man looks on my pony. He got on for 5 minutes at the end to check steering and get a better idea of where we're at (and looked ridiculous, so of course I have to share ;)

He also taught her to side pass in about 2 minutes. I want some of that cowboy magic!

Today, I think we all had some pretty high expectations for Bridget. But, once you start thinking like that, you all know how it's destined to go, right ? :) Pony woke up this morning and was over the whole working for a living thing. As the clinician said, the first day she was interested and having fun so there was no real challenge there for her. So today, she was bored and her whole attitude about it all was "Why?" and "Make me!" Of course, once you pick that fight, you have to follow through and I spent the better part of an hour in various stages of getting the pony across the bridge she went across twice the day before. So funny. Clinician said that's pretty common with really confident, bold horses...there's no reward to them for completing the obstacles because the obstacles themselves aren't even on their radar as something to be concerned about...so they start looking for other things to occupy themselves, in this case checking to make sure I really am in charge of the situation. The actual getting her across the bridge was just all the non exciting horse training stuff we've all dealt with - just a ton of patience, making her work, letting her try out her options, and rewarding her for even the slightest inclination to do what you asking. I won't lie, there was a whole lot of pony attitude on display and she was pretty naughty. In between the antics, I got a lot of opportunities to remind her about moving off my leg and also got in some pretty nice bend in her trot circles while we put her to work. She's got a lot of self preservation so even during the worst of it, she never felt dangerous, if you know what I mean - I didn't ever feel concerned or overly worried about her. 

Clinician guy called it when he said it was never about the bridge, since as soon as I got her over she quite happily went around and did everything asked of her for the rest of our lesson. Obviously I kept it pretty easy after that since pony brain was still processing such a dramatic change of events. Who would have guessed her rider gets to tell her where those feet go? ;)

All in all, a good clinic. I'm actually glad I brought her for both days, since I saw a hint of attitude towards the end of the first day and think it would have just been a matter of time before we had to have a discussion about the ways of the world. I'm glad I had someone there to help me through it! Clinician himself was great. I don't think he was teaching anything that isn't just common sense, but he's very calm and quiet and super positive about things, which I noticed was wonderful for the greener riders, and definitely a good thing for green horses. Just watching some of the other classes gave me lots of things to think over in regards to Ginger, which might be a subject for another post.

I don't think I'll do another extreme trail class, since she seriously owned that course and I do respect that she got a little bored by the whole thing. I may sign up next time for the riding lesson part, since he seemed good with the basics, which is obviously where we're at.  

Overall, Ms Bridget gets a gold star from me this weekend - I couldn't be happier with her, particularly as she escorted a couple of nervous (older) horses around the place and served as the "steady eddie"!

Trailssage

I've managed to get in another couple of rides on Ms Bridget this week. I'm focusing on her since I'd like to take her to the clinic this coming weekend.

G is away so I have no picture taker. You get to see the adventures of Bridget from the rider view instead.

 In the last few days we've made some progress understanding just what exactly I'm asking with those legs of mine. She's funny, she gets really frustrated if you have to ask twice and she doesn't immediately understand what you're asking - just like Ginger. Then once she's a little more confident with it, she's wanting to show you her new moves at every opportunity, also like another cob we know.  My sample size of two indicates cobs are all super smart overachievers :)

Little mare still has an excellent forward button, and a really great work ethic, but the rhythm is lacking and it feels a little stop and go up there. I think it's just a matter of confidence at the moment, and a short attention span: "Look! I know exactly what you want, watch me trot!" then 5 seconds later "ok...are we still trotting? Cause I could walk now? Or canter?" Normal baby stuff, and just a matter of miles. I switched out her bit to a loose ring french link (she was in a d-ring snaffle) and she's WAY better with that, and getting really good at trusting my hands and not bracing quite so much in the downward transitions. I'm using my dressage whip to tap her shoulders and help her out with the steering now and then, but she's getting the idea.

I'm happy with the variety we're getting by hacking all over the place, with the odd stop at the ring. It works out really well because I can play with mostly bending and moving off my leg at the walk in the ring and keep it fun and easy, and focus more on the forward/rhythm stuff on the ride there and back since the trail and road helps funnel her in the right direction. I'm remain super impressed with her and am so appreciative that I can just take her out on the trails and work with her there and not lose her focus.

Tomorrow is a day off for the ponies while I get that darn house painting done, then the weekend is that clinic. Busy, busy...but oh so happy :)

Itchy Ginger

I am so enjoying being home and being able to visit with the girls every day! These days almost make all the work stress worthwhile.

The view from my kitchen window last night.

We had non stop rain most of yesterday, so I gave Ms Ginger an ultimate spa day and hid in the barn. She's seriously the sweetest mare you could ever hope to meet - I love my quality time with Ginger, and I'd like to think she enjoys her time with me as well. I hope to get her back into regular work next week...this week I'm painting our rental house inside and out and what barn time is left I've been trying to get Bridget out in order to not completely overwhelm her at the clinic this weekend. (Side note - I know I had mentioned I'd like to bring both horses but I'm hearing some feedback about the clinician that's giving me a few doubts so I am holding out on that plan for now. I can always sign up for a riding lesson with Ginger the day of if he seems ok for that) I play head games with myself where Ginger is concerned, so I'd rather not have a bad ride if it can be helped. I'll get back at it at our own pace next week when I have time to be consistent (and have G to cheer me on). I think we'll all be happier.

That mane :(

I think I've mentioned Ginger's issues with sweet itch in the past. In the time I've had her, I've been lucky and only had one bad year. This summer, however, makes it two. We thought we had a handle on it, then in the space of about a week, she rubbed about half of her mane off :( I'm not super attached to the long mane look and was going to really shorten it anyways, but...there's a difference between having some mane and no mane at all. I spent part of my morning pulling her mane and attempting to make it look a little tidier. I opted to pull it as short as I could in hopes of it looking a little more even, but I'm pretty unhappy with the outcome. The only good thing is cobs grow mane like nothing else, so a month from now this will be that bad haircut we'll pretend never happened. Ginger is looking fabulous, but like her haircut, my pictures are terrible. It's hard to get nice pictures of her because she's my best buddy and she finds it highly difficult to stand still far enough away for a picture. She's constantly trying to come say hi, so we end up with lots of awkward shots and more than a few of her nose :)

The new (unfortunate) 'do.

One of about a million identical pics on my phone.

Looking good, though!

The Hack and Yak

Monday, my friend M ended up with a free day and opted to trailer out to my barn for a trail ride. M and I used to board and ride together a couple of times a week for a few years, before she bought a farm of her own and I started doing all this silly working away from home stuff. So you can imagine how excited I was to go for a ride with my best riding buddy!

Since the goal of the ride was more to catch up and chat than actually, you know, ride, we opted for a loop with wide and level trails so we could easily ride side by side and 'hack and yak'.

I brought Bridget along thinking this would be a great, low stress introduction into trail riding with horses other than her barn buddies. M's horse is a horse that came from an auction in ranch country and is just a super, super mare. I have no idea how a good horse like her got to a low end auction, but she's here now and living the best life any horse could ask for. She's the perfect been-there-done-that buddy for the greener horses. Bridget was a little worried about the trailer arriving and the 'new' horse for all of a minute or two, then settled in and was a star for the entire ride. You'd never guess this is all new for her! We were out for about two hours, not because we went overly far, but more because we mostly walked and enjoyed the day. Sorry, I forgot to take any pictures - too busy chatting and these trails aren't overly scenic anyhow, particularly with the grey weather we're currently enjoying.

Our non exciting route.

Bridget impressed me even after we got back to the barn - the other horses were calling for her and making a fuss, but she was quite happy to stand and wait at M's trailer while we continued our non stop yakking for another 45 minutes or so (I'm not an overly chatty person normally, we just had way too much catching up to do for one afternoon!) An afternoon well spent, and I was so happy with my little mare.

Doing some post ride catching up of their own - 3 hours is a long time for the BFFs to be apart! :)