Arena work with a saddle and a trip to the lake

 I opted to ride Dan at home today because tomorrow I plan to take him to Ashland. Plus, I figured I should start doing some lateral work to help strengthen those fibers in his suspensory. (although I'm not sure there was ever any fiber damage, but... whatever... I'm not sure how that all works). I had already ridden Funny and Mike had just gotten home so I figured it was smart to stay home and ride here. 

 

I opted to put the PH dressage saddle on him, even though it supposedly doesn't work for him. So, I don't know. I'm not sure who to believe anymore. And is it because they don't understand how the stride free tree works or is it just that bad? And... I don't know what to do about it, other than see if he likes it or not. There is another really nice saddle fitter who has mentioned coming, but I honestly don't know anything about her skill level. But she seems knowledgeable and nice. But I don't know how soon she'll come. So... gah!! 

 

But anyways... Dan and I walked up to the arena and then did a bunch of our lateral work at the walk. Well, all of it. He was a bit sluggish today but it may just be me being used to Funny's running walk now. I didn't get any tongue out today but he did chomp a tiny bit. Maybe chomp is too strong a word. He chewed some. We picked up the trot and he almost felt lame. Right front I think. Sigh.. I don't know if it was just tension... fatigue from Thursday... saddle issues.. He did work out of it and it was super subtle. We did a fair amount of lateral work at the trot. Our half passes suck! ha. But we did get better ones at the end. I also did just circles and serpentines without the lateral loading. He does want to throw his right barrel into me. I am not sure when I last adjsuted him so I should do that again. Plus he needs more acupuncture for that shoulder, although at this point it's probably a moot point. Overall though, a pretty decent ride. He didn't feel quite as sproingy today but was nice and soft. 

 

 

We accidentally did 13 minutes of trot. Whooops. So we did a cool down lap and then headed out to the lake. He was a bit sluggish on the road too. But he wasn't spooky or anxious so that was good. The last time I tried to ride in the neighborhood he was a nut job. We went to the tennis courts and then headed back home. He definitely was more forward heading home, so... see buddy! You can march!

 

 

It was a good day. Tomorrow's weather may not be as nice but we'll still have fun on the trails. Oh, and doesn't he look so handsome in his new halter!?

 

Smiles!

 Ahhh, I needed today. Yesterday was such an emotional day. Plus I was on my period so my hormones were raging! And today was still a hard day. I still cried this morning. But... Lyric had a good vet visit. I do love Dr. Barrow and her crew! I got home and had a quick salad for lunch and then changed into breeches and grabbed Dan and we headed to Ashland. I had to work on one horse tonight so I had a small window, but it was enough.

 

Unfortunately Kelli wanted to do arena work, which was understandable because Marvin hadn't been ridden much, it was super windy and cold, and she had the new loaner saddle to try out. We talked about plans, but decided to just show up and do our own thing and if we got to hack together a little bit great! Except... I was ready to go because I was bareback and she was still tacking up and talking. And then she sounded a little worried so I offered to come up to the arena with her to start and figured I could do some lateral work and a bit of trotting before I hit the trails. She almost told me no as she didn't want to ruin my ride but then as I was like "cool, see yah" and started to head out, she changed her mind. Ha ha. Okay.. no big deal. Dan and I can do that. 

 

We got to the jump arena (the dressage arena's were closed) and I did my walk work. We did all the lateral things. He stuck his tongue out once when we did a half pass left at the walk. But only once. Of course his walk half-passes suck currently. At this point I had been on him for 20 minutes (although probably 10 of that was sitting around waiting) so we picked up the trot for a bit and did some leg yields and a tiny bit of the babiest of half-passes. He felt pretty good and actually seemed to be using his hind end and pushing and getting lofty today instead of his usual flat western jog type bareback trot. Yeah boy! Kelli said he looked good. We trotted over some poles and then... I was like "I hate to do this, but... do you care if I go hack now?". Because... it was almost 2 pm and I had to be finishing my ride at 2:30 to get back home in time to go work... and I could have done arena work at home. I spent the extra hour of drive time and gas so that we could hit the trails. I felt bad, but... She was cool with it and I told her if Marvin freaked out to just call me and I would come back. But apparently he didn't so yay!

 

Dan and I moseyed down to the water complex, snacking as we went. I did one walk circle and then two trot circles each way. Then we trotted a few logs and up the bank and then went down Raccoon loop. The bridge is almost done!! Yay! Then we went up the hill to the lake, skipped the lake and trotted from the lake head, across the dam and all the way through the field with the gallop track, and around the lake to the log, which we trotted over. I did post some of it because Dan's trot got big and bouncy! But he felt really good and lofty today! So then we walked up and down the hills in the woods. We came to the beaver dam and there was a little "creek" and I knew he was going to hop over it. But I didn't expect him to bascule over it! He popped me out of the "tack" a bit. Hee hee. Fun! We trotted a bit more alongside XC and then noticed as we hit the top that Kelli and Marvin had headed out in hand to come find us. We trotted towards them and jumped two or three logs. He mostly trotted them. Good pony. Then we meanded back to the trailers because it was time to go. 

 

Ahhhhh.. I needed that. I was already feeling better but.. it was so nice to get out and enjoy the sunshine and my pony. Turns out trotting is good for the soul too! Not just galloping, but... I can't wait til we can gallop again!

 

Quickie at home

Dan and I snuck in a quick ride today. I had to work today because the saddle fitter is coming tomorrow, but I moved 2 of my stops to today and the last stop to Thursday, so... I adjusted 7 horses today and was still home by 2ish. Whoo hooo! I lunged Lyric first and then grabbed Danimal. I opted for the bareback pad because it was quicker and I wanted time to drag the arena too. And I had already lunged and shockwaved Lyric, so time was running a hair tight.

 

(hims was cranky til I mentioned the word cookie.... )

He was happy enough to oblige and we wandered around the pasture and did some hills. We did some trotting and even some leg yielding in the pasture. Then we went in the arena for a little bit more lateral work. We even did some shoulder in and half pass and leg yield at the trot. He was good! We even got a nice springy trot instead of his western pleasure jog trot. He was a good kid!

 

We meandered back just as the water trough was full so I hopped off to turn the water off and figured that was a good time to quit. It was a short ride but we accomplished our goals. And no tongue! He did trip a few times when we first started and got a little anxious about it but... no tongue. He was chomping though. But only for a minute.

 

Tonight there is the severe storm warning so they got turned back out in the main field. They were glad. They were getting bored in the dog pen pasture. But I'm trying to gross grass kiddos!

 

 

 I do LOVE my farm!!

Leg Day

I'm so grateful for days like today. I am blessed. I got to work all 3 of my ponies, in lovely weather, on my beautiful farm. I got to sleep in and had dinner with Mike. It was a good day. 

  

I decided to do Dan last today and clearly he was bored! That pasture is fun at first but it gets small and boring quick. ;) 

We went to the trailer and I groomed him. Then I put the saddle on. I used the Peter Horrobin dressage saddle. I also put the bright green paisley pad on him. ha ha. Not the best choice for him, but whatever. 

 

We hacked up to the arena through the pasture and he was a bit of a slug. We did a long walk warm up and did all the lateral work... shoulder in, haunches in, leg yield, half pass, turn on the forehand and turn on the haunches. I think that he stuck his tongue out in the beginning... when we did leg yield to the left. Which... hasn't bothered him before. And I was not on the buckle, but literally on the first stop from the buckle. So.... maybe just anxiety? Verse actual pain? I opted to ignore it and carried on. We did a stretchy walk and then we picked up the trot. We trotted around and then took a break. Then we did some more trotting and added in some light lateral work... leg yielding. And.. no tongue. So... interesting. We did some transitions. Then we walked again. Then we did a bit more trotting and we were bored so we did a tiny bit of shoulder in and haunches in and a tiny bit of halt pass. And no tongue. I kept his neck as long as I could. We even did a nice medium down the centerline. He asked! 

 

So then I looked and we had done 11 minutes of trot. Oops! Ha.. 11 seems to be the magic number lately. 

   

So then we hacked home. I debated going to the lake but decided to just head back. 

   

Hack and Snack and Water Therapy

 

 Danny and I had fun today. We went to Ashland and enjoyed a mostly quiet hack and snack. We dropped off some meds at the gray barn and hung out and grazed while we talked to Laura and Smarty. Then we headed to the woods and to the fields. We did our ten minutes of trot. I didn't set a timer.. just watched equilab. We ended up doing 11 minutes, so oops. I tried to do some longer sections of trot, but... man, 10 minutes of trot bareback isn't easy. Especially when Dan has his big boy trot on. :) But yay for big boy trots! 

 

We also walked the ditches and trotted up the bank (Okay, he cantered up the baby bank). We did the water treadmill and got some good work done. I think we did 3 circles each way and then another circle of transitions each way. We also trotted quite a few logs and he was so happy he actually picked up the canter and cantered two or three of them. Oops. #sorrynotsorry. ;) 

 

I also acupunctured his shoulder when we got home. He was a good boy. Hopefully we can make some more progress with that. 

 

We had a beautiful sunset too!