Giggling and Chilling

Ahhh... Saturday!!

Today was date day with Mike. We went to Dahlonega to do a mountain drive with the Audi Car Club. It was fun. Great scenery. Not much fast driving because of traffic, but still fun. We had a picnic and then opted to head home instead of going on to Tennessee for the second trek and then heading home. But man... traffic was stupid so we might as well have gone on to Tennessee. ;) Regardless I still made it home in time to ride. It had rained on and off for the past 24 hours or more, so... I decided to go to Ashland to ride vs riding at home. 

We took a quick spin around the little lake to warm up and as we were turning across the dam, Dan saw the horses in the pasture and HAD to go say hi. BUT... that meant that we saw 4 racoon babies who then climbed the tree. :) Then we headed to the dressage arena. We did some warm up  and then did some work. We worked on our trot half passes and then the trot and canter transitions. Then we worked a little bit on the canter half pass. We finally got it both ways. Then we ran through 3-1 because... I signed up to show it at Ashland next weekend. Eeeeks! We still don't have a change but my plan was to just ride the simple instead of see how far off everything else was. 

 

So we ran through it. HOLY SMOKES Y'ALL!!! Danomite!!!! That was some pretty spectacular work. He felt phenomenal! Our first halt was pretty decent... our shoulder ins were legit and stayed consistent. Historically they have been a bit fish tail-y or inconsistent. Then our trot half passes were pretty decent. At least as far as I could tell. Then our first trot medium was LEGIT! Holy moly... he strutted! I was giggling the whole way. It was powerful, it was bouncy, and it was uphill! But not just uphill, also forward. Kelli's trick was so helpful. The downward was pretty spot on too. Then our walk work wasn't bad... though the stretchy walk needs help. Our walk half pirouettes were actually pretty fantastic! He kept the hind end moving but wasn't super wide and stayed bent. Then our upwards to the canter was lovely and our medium canter was impressive. I thought. :) And, and, AND it felt uphill! Like really uphill! Then the downward was pretty good on one side, and a bit late on the other lead but still mostly off my seat aids and decent. Our 10 meter canter circles were a little labored, so we'll have to work on that. And our simple transitions sort of sucked, but we'll fix those too. Or keep working on those. Then we did another medium trot and holy cow!!! It felt amazing too. Again, so amazing that I was literally giggling at him the whole diagonal! Wheee! We finished with a very tactfully ridden centerline. He wanted to bust it out again but I was able to keep him in a collected trot to a respectable halt. Yay! Dang son! We may be able to get our bronze medal without changes if you ride like that! I decided to quit with that, despite sort of wanting to work on the simples again. But that was just soooo good I had to reward him. 

We went for a short hack to the lake and let him have a sip. Then we trotted up hoot and holler and then walked back through the cross country field to go home. It was a nice ride! No more wildlife other thant he heron. 

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!

  

Getting more jump

 Well, it's not a change.. yet. But we're getting a better canter! Today was lesson day and we worked on the canter half pass. Ugh... Dressage is hard!

Tracking left:

I must keep the outside rein connection. I must not let my inside thumb roll down. Think of sitting my pelvis square and almost canter pirouetting him into the half pass.... that keeps my elbows at my side and has me turn my whole upper body from my core rather than lengthening my right arm and crossing the left over his neck. I have to keep my legs long... no creeping up the saddle. We got some nice sit behind and lift in the front end though!!! We still can't quite manage the correct bend and move sideways. We tend to either lead too much with the shoulders and turn it into a diagonal or lead too much with the haunches. BUT... we did get more lift. Oh, and I have to think forward, sideways, forward, sideways... not just sideways, sideways, sideways. And pulse my leg aids. 

Then we went right....

Tracking Right:

oh darn.. now I can't remember.... Maybe.. Open my inside rein... no crossing over. Oh, and definitely watch my right leg. No matter what I was doing, it was creeping up, and I was jabbing him with the spur. 

But again.. passable. :) 

So then he was all fired up so we did a lengthen and then he just got belligerent and was running through all my aids. Rana reminded me to keep him round and supple... pick a rein and put him in a bend, even if I'm going straight. Oooooh, so when I do a medium trot... he should still be on a left or a right bend. Because if he's bent, remember, he can't brace and lean. :) 

Crazy horse! I then tossed him out in her field so that Kelli and I could go get lunch. We ate at "The Place" in downtown Athens. SOOOO yummy. And Dan did not destroy anything. (else).... we broke the gate opener on the way in and then he kicked out and broke one of the caps on their dressage board. Oops. :( 

Fancy Pants

 Today was a fun day! It's the 4th of July! We celebrated at the lake yesterday to avoid the crowds so today was home day. Mike and I spent the morning getting the old broken electric wire down and putting up new holders for it. Then I met Kelli at Ashland for a ride. And after my ride, we bush hogged the rest of the pasture. Holy moly our new farm has grass!!! Anyways... back to Dan... :) 

We started with some dressage. We worked on our lateral work and our canter transitions a little bit. I didn't really get too far into our canter work when Kelli said she was done because Marvin was being so good! So cool... she didn't mind if I kept riding. So I moved to the big arena and did some trot half pass, which felt decent. Then we did some canter work. We did our counter canter. We started with the shallow loop and then did the full loop. And it was actually quite nice! I was even able to slightly change the bend and he stayed mostly upright instead of leaning and careening. Yay! Then we tried some more three loops with simple changes. That's a work in progress. He's getting to where he's skipping or taking too many steps or trotting a little. Especially one direction. We played with it but struggled. We either get a round transition or a prompt transition. OR... we get a prompt transition but with flair! Hee hee. Too prompt! Oh well. We played with it some and it got a hair better. Then we did some medium trots across the diagonal. Kelli made a suggestion that was brilliant! I'd been working so hard on riding him up, so he wasn't just running.... that I was holding him and while he was up, he wasn't really reaching. She suggested I swing my seat more. And oh yeah... like the swing set!. So I tried it. And wow!!!! It felt pretty amazing!!! Kelli said it looked amazing too. yay! I'll have to remember that! So then we did a canter half pass each way and he held it and it wasn't too bad. Yahoo!! So, maybe we'll show 3-1 at the Ashland show just for fun and tell the judge we're aiming for simple changes and we know we'll get bad scores. ;) 

Then we went for a nice long hack. It was fun! Although down by squallor hollow there was some rapid fire gun fire or fireworks that went off. But then it was quiet. Of course then we kept seeing things move out of the corner of our eyes. It was a little spooky.... like we were being surrounded by crazy clowns or... ewoks! And the horses were a little jumpy, but not freaked out. And then... I am guessing Dan's foot slid on a tree root or something but it seriously sounded like a clown horn! And it sounded like it was coming from between Dan and Marvin rather than underneath Dan. heee heee. Freaky! But we didn't die....  we didn't even see any clowns. Or ewoks. :) It was a great ride!

Quick jump session at home

 Dan and I did a quick jump school this morning before I went to the lake with Mike. He was super! We warmed up at the walk and got our lateral work in. Then we trotted and did some cantering. We played a little bit but I didn't want to do too much with the counter canter as I didn't think my seat aids would be as effective in the jump saddle. So I didn't push it. Besides, I'll play dressage tomorrow so we can practice then. Anyways, I had set jumps up the day before. It was one giant X, to a slight bendy line vertical, a "corner", a big oxer, a small square oxer, and then I put up the two stone walls at a slight angle. It wasn't a massive angle, but I wasn't 100% sure I was walking it right, and they are skinnies, and we haven't practiced angles in a while... so...  

He was super! He was drifting a lot right when we first started so we knocked the giant X the second time through. I then managed to ride him straighter and we did fine after that. He jumped all of the things. We did the skinnies by doing one of them first.. then I went for it. And he was game! He didn't try to run out at all. He even self corrected a tiny bit. Yay! He was good and did all of the things, even jumping the vertical on a steep angle too. 

Then we walked back home via Jean's driveway and headed in. It was getting hot and humid and ... lake. 

Good pony! Hopefully tomorrow we can meet Kelli and do some dressage and then get in a nice long hack and splash!

Fun Day!

 Both Dan and I were missing riding with friends. It's been awhile. And the last two times I took him to the lake he didn't even want to splash. So, since none of my friends could join me today, and since I had done dressage the last two rides, and because it was a gorgeous day...  I took him and Funny to Ashland to hack. And it was an awesome adventure! I'm so glad we did it. We had a blast!

I got Dan loaded and Funny was so brave and pretty much went straight on. She got her front feet on and then she was a little nervous and hesitating as she went but she never backed off and just slowly kept coming! Good girl! We haven't even practiced since our last trailer ride. I got everyone groomed and got Dan tacked up and off we went. We had a lovely 30 minute ride or so...just playing in the woods and the fields. We walked up some hills. Oh, and then we found a log to jump. It was in the path, so we had to jump it. The first time we walked over it and she was fine. So then we tried trotting. Ha ha. Poor baby girl. Twice she stopped and wouldn't go. Then the third time, she tried. She tried hard. She stopped, then reared up. Then threw her front legs down. Then she couldn't figure out the hind end and basically crawled over it with the hind end. Oh honey.... we'll teach you how to jump! Don't worry! We tried one more time and she actually trotted over it someone coordinated, so she got lots of praise. We carried on and she did the steeper big creek crossing without blinking. 

Then we got to the big creek crossing with the mini waterfall and the shenanigans started! This time... not caused by us! We met up with 3 other riders who apparently traveled through a wasp nest. Two of the horses were getting stung so they started bucking. One of the riders jumped off and the other rider fell off in the creek. The horses were panicking and the riders were a little panicked. So, Funny and Dan were like "What the heck"? And then Dan tried to get the heck out of Dodge and tried to spin and bolt. Meanwhile, I'm holding my phone because I was going to get photos over the creek, holding Dan, and holding Funny. I'm trying to get him reined in... get my phone in my pocket, and keep Funny from getting tangled. I managed, but barely. Finally I just hopped off. Well, then I almost lost Dan because he was so upset his head was way up in the air and I couldn't get the reins over his head because I couldn't reach! Eventually we got situated and then the riders crossed the creek and then started walking back home. It took Dan a few minutes to breathe, but he did. I managed to get back on and then we crossed the creek with no issues. Then we headed to the lake which was the original plan. Unfortunately, the other people were headed that way too so Dan got a little bit on edge again. But not bad. They didn't want to stay at the lake so they kept going. Yay! Pool party time for Dan and Funs. They went in and splashed a little bit and drank a little bit. Then Dan went in to his chest, stuck his face in to drink, and then .... went for a swim! It was just the short little loop about, but... Funny came with us! I'm pretty sure she swam the teeniest bit but she may have stayed on solid ground. We did it twice! hee hee. so cool!!! Dan was definitely swimming. I went underwater up to my boobs. After that, they splashed a teeny bit more and then we headed towards home. A few feet into the woods Dan shook his head and his bonnet fell off his ears! Luckily I grabbed it. But then I realized he had also lost half his bridle!!!! It was on one ear and that was it. Eeeks! I was able to grab it and shove his ear back through and get it back on. But then his figure 8 band was swinging over his nose instead of OVER his nose. Ha ha... oh well. 

I decided to go to the XC field and just walk down the bank and over the ditches while we were there. Only my dumb self decided to do the slightly bigger bank down. I figured she was so good over the baby one... why not try the slightly bigger one. Well.. it's kind of a good bit bigger! But we tried it. Keep in mind... my phone holder was soaking wet so I was holding my phone in my hand. Dan jumped down politely and as we landed, I asked him to stand as Funny hadn't jumped yet. Unfortunately, Dan turned slightly on landing and because Funny stayed up top... the lead rope had gotten under my leg and physics made it fling my heel up and it basically flipped me out of the saddle! hee hee. It was a bit hilarious but dang!! I hit the ground on my left seatbone and it hurt a bit. I jumped up... still had Funny's lead rope... and was trying to get Dan turned around so I could get back on. I lined him up to use the bank to get on and he almost jumped up the bank as I was getting on! No! And then Funny decided to be brave and jump down then... almost landing on Dan and having to duck under him. Ha ha.... CHAOS! Luckily, she missed Dan, he moved out of the way, and I was able to stay out of the way and then finagle him to where I could get on. We went to the smaller ditch and did that like normal people. Then we went to the ditch and she walked over the smallest one and next smallest one like a rock star. Then we went to the water complex and she walked right in. We moseyed around for a minute and then walked up the bank out of the water. I turned her around and she didn't even question it and walked right back down the bank into the water!! She said NO last time! I hardly even asked this time. :) So we did the other up bank and then turned back down and came down into the water again. GOOD baby girl!!! She's a full event horse now... except the whole not knowing how to actually jump. Ha ha...

So then we headed home because that was a big day! I hosed her off first and then put her in her breakaway halter and tied her to the trailer facing the hose. I parked close on purpose, and she stood there while I hosed Dan. She danced a litte, but to be fair, so did Dan when it was her turn. But she didn't pull back. Yay! Afterwards, she was climbing up the ramp while still tied to the side of the trailer and chewing on the butt bars. Just like Dan does. So, I put her on first. She took a minute, but that was it. She came up pretty quickly and stood for a few minutes while I finished up with Dan. 

I'm so proud of her!!! She took everything in stride! And I'm so glad Dan had a fun day too. :)