Sneaking one in

Today Mike and I slept in a bit and then went to lunch. It was tasty. Then we headed to the lake. It's cold, but not too bad. It's supposed to get super cold soon though, so we went while it got up to 50 degrees today. Supposedly!! But it did NOT feel like 50 degrees out on the lake. :) It was cold!! But we had fun. It was a super windy day too and we got up to 5 knots! 

Then on the way home, I debated riding since it was going to be at that odd time where I didn't quite have enough time, but almost. I decided I might as well ride because it was still fairly comfortable out and it's supposed to be super cold at the beginning of this week and then rainy, so.... we went for it. :)
 

I wanted to do some dressage again, because we are now able to do some ground poles and lateral work at the trot. Yay! We went for a quick hack around the jump arena to warm up and then did some dressage. He wasn't as good today as the other day. He was a bit fussier in the contact and was doing that hopping thing tracking right again. Sigh... But he was pretty good. We got some good moments. And his  turn on the forehands and haunches were actually quite good and his lateral work was pretty responsive even without the spurs. 

We then did another short hack around the little lake to cool off. 

15 mintes of trotting!!!!!

 I worked this morning and then met Kelli at Ashland for a ride. We were planning on doing ground poles, but the arena was booked for a mini-clinic. So we went for an nice long hack. And then I went to the XC field and did my trots. 15 whole minutes!!!! Danny was a good boy. Then we went for a little cool off hack around the lake. It was a good day.

Day after Christmas Dressage

Today Danny and I had a great ride!!! We did some dressage and he was super! He was good in the connection (after some tongue flingings!) and very through in his back. We did lots of fun lateral work at the walk and then did our trots! He was great! Yay! So then we did a hack to cool off.

Christmas!! So blessed!

Merry Christmas!!!

Today was a lovely day. I did NOT have to work... It's still weird. :) Mike and I slept in (Me more than him). I got up and fed the ponies and spent some time cuddling. Then Mike and I exchanged gifts. He got me a new radio for the truck. It has spotify and pandora so I can play all sorts of great songs. I'm so excited. It also has a camera screen that I can watch once I get the camera for the horse trailer. Yay!!! I hope it fits!

After we did gifts, we made a giant cheese and fruit board and stuffed our faces. Then I went and hung the curtains Mom and I made for the trailer and unrolled my mattress and did a little bit of organizing. It was cold though and I wanted to ride, so I didn't do too much more.  

Mom and Tracy had made the boys Christmas wreaths that were completely edible, so I hung those up before we went for our ride and they LOVED them.  
  
Eating the Christmas Wreaths  (I love how Dan looks at Fleck and then copies him).

Nom nom nom

So then... we met Kelli at Ashland and had a great ride. I rode Dan with her and we did about an hour of walking on the hills. We ran into Mr. Jeff and Beau too. Ha ha. Figures!! He's the only other hard core person who would be out there in the cold on Christmas. :) After the walk, I did our two 5 minute trot sets out in the XC field. 

Then I hopped on Fleck for a quick ride and headed home. It was getting cold!!!  But what a lovely day!!! I'm so blessed and lucky.

Christmas Eve Ride

Today Kelli and I had a good ride together. It was cold though. We walked through the woods and the fields and then finished with some trotting in the XC field. I was able to show Kelli the black coyote. :) He's so pretty! I really hope he doesn't get trapped.

 After we did our walk, I split off from Kelli and did two 5 minute trot sets on the hills. Then we finished with a minute or two of dressage trotting. :) I know.. I'm cheating a tad bit but I figured that I was incrementally building him up to 15 minutes, which is Thursday this week!!!

Then after my ride, Mike and I went to his Mom's for Christmas. It was a nice day. It was fun hanging out with Mike. And we both looked all pretty. :) Too bad we didn't get photos. 

Wildlife Abounds

The Danimal and I had a good ride today. :) I turned him out this morning and when I looked out the window, he was doing some canter sets. Doh!!! 

    Dans' "What?!?! I'm innocent" face.... ha!


Anyways, once I got back home from work we were able to go for a ride. Danny was good. We saw a beautiful owl, a herd of deer, and the black coyote again! It's gorgeous. Danny was a good boy and we trotted our 10 minutes. (Or we're assuming.. I couldn't quite get a full 5 minutes solid because of terrain, cars and people, the coyote, etc). I didn't give him any bute today and he was pretty darn sound. By the end he was a tiny bit off but it's definitely on that front left where his heel bulb injury is, so... hopefully another day or two and it'll be completely healed. 

Then when we got home, I let them graze in the rye grass in front of the barn while I did hay and water. (I had already done stalls waiting on my morning client). He was good and didn't do anything stupid. Yay!

ahhhhh...... Lessoning!!!! I've missed you!

So much fun today!!! Today was TRULY a day off. :) And it was glorious. :) 

I slept in a little bit.. Then I took Dan up to Morning Run Farm for a lesson with Beth. It was great!! It was good to see MRF again.... it's gotten some nice new improvements too. They now have a bigger arena, with a permanent dressage arena (full size), another arena, and a lake to swim the horses in and more trails. 

Anyways... we had a good lesson. We mostly walked, but did our two 5 minute trot sets.  We worked on connection and getting Dan tracking up from behind into the bridle. Beth said that the key was to create a connection with the reins and ride him up into it. No wiggling, no fussing, no fiddling with my hands in an effort to encourage softness. But ride him into it and let him figure out how to soften into it. It's "in his court" so to speak. And it worked. If I remember not to fuss and fiddle, he eventually softened into a lovely consistent connection. Also, I need to not be afraid of the inside rein, but don't let go of the outside rein either. :) I did note, and Beth agreed, that when we are tracking right, I almost have to think of shifting my right hip bone back a bit so that he can bend around me. And look for the eyeball/eyelashes on the inside for correct flexion. It was funny though because tracking right, his mane is so long it blocks the view of his face. ha ha! Feral pony!

It was great though.  It was nice to get back to it. I'm sore too!! But it was also extra nice because just before she would say something, I would feel it and think about how to fix it. And many times I was doing it as she was telling me to do it. Yay!

Danny wasn't exactly thrilled about getting back to work though. :) He put up a bit of a fuss and his tongue came back out. Ugh... We just ignored it and it went away. And then it was funny because he pouted and was huffing his little huff... telling us both how mad he was. :) 

Afterwards we went on a little hack around the property and found the lake. It was fun!! Then Dan hung out while I met Peri for La Parilla!! Oh how I miss Mexican Tuesdays!! I stuffed my face full of cheese dip but it was so good. :)

I'm looking forward to continuing on with some lessons. :)