Life with Dan

 Hee hee... Today was a fun day. Full of Dan shenanigans. :) 

We started off in the dressage arena with Kelli. It was a good ride. We had some really good moments. His canter to walk transitions are still a bit rough, but we got some better ones. Our canter half pass is still a work in progress, but... today we had more moments up what felt like a very uphill Dan with lots of lift and swing in the front end and maybe even some crossing in the back end. We also ran through parts of 3-1. He was a good boy. And I took his flash off and he was great and we didn't have any tongue problems. 

 

So then we went for a hack. We went up behind the jump field and then to the cross country field. I asked Kelli if she wanted to trot up the hill and she did, so.. we did two laps. The first one was very contained and the second one was a little bit more let out but still pretty contained. So then I asked Kelli if we could do one by ourselves. He cantered half of it, but we did get a little bit of stretch. So then we hacked to the lake but before we hit the end... I thought Dan might enjoy a little gallop so I asked Kelli if we could go. She said sure! So off we went. He didn't drop down a gear and really hit the throttle, but we did gallop! Wheeeeeeee!! We both enoyed it. Then Kelli even went for a short little canter in the field! Yay! 

So then we went to the lake. And... Dan went in and splashed a bit. Marvin stayed at the edge and sipped lake mud. And then... Dan shook his head and his wet bonnet flew off and also... his entire bridle flew off!!! First of all.. EEEKSSS!!!! That's my montar dressage "show" bridle!!! Second... um.... now we're naked! Luckily the reins were still in my hands so I caught it and pulled it back up out of the water. Of course the ear bonnet was drowning and then Dan decided to paw again and managed to pummel it into the ground. Ugh... I tried a few times to get it with the whip handle, but.. no such luck. So I rode Dan to dry ground, got off, put his bridle back on, took my boots and socks off and waded in and got his bonnet. Then we had to get back because Kelli was on a time frame, so I just carried my boots and bonnet back and rode with bare feet. Hee hee...

It was a great day! The ponies had fun. The humans had fun. :) And my bridle dried and got a good cleaning and conditioning!