Forward March!

Today we rode at home. I spent some time with Mike and then I decided I would rather work all 3 at home and have time to drag the arena before the rain and go on a bike ride on the new bike. Mike traded in the Super Duke for a Triumph today. It's zippy! We had a nice ride and had dinner too, so I'm glad I chose Mike today. And grateful he let me play also. 

 

I rode Dan bareback but took my whip with me. We worked on me not nagging and him staying forward and in front of my leg. It didn't take much. It's almost like he knew with the whip in my hand. Which, is actually good, because for a long time.. the whip didn't really even matter. We did our lateral work at the walk and focused on correct use of his neck and back and inside leg to outside rein. Then we did our ten minutes of trot and did some lateral work in the trot too. Good pony! No tongue out today. He felt good too. We did transitions, half-pass, leg yield, shoulder in, and then some 12 meter figure 8's down the long side. 

 

Then we hacked home and I ended up trotting a bit more in the field because I wanted to and he wanted to. So of course we did 13 minutes of trot instead of 10. Oh darn. But hey, at least I didn't canter on purpose. Because... I really really wanted to! 

     

 

Adventuring

 Hacked with Marvin

bareback. headed down XC field to racoon loop and was going to cross new bridge. They were there with the tractor but let us pass "For 1 cent". Moved the tractor so we could cross. Dan was brave. Might have been the first to "christen" the bridge by passing it. :) Yay!

Then crossed creek and marvin was brave. then trotted in the gallop track field. Tripped hard twice but then did well. Was a bit of a slug then a bit fast but at the very end (not on video) got lovely. 

hacked around to beaver pond and saw a very pretty hawk or kestrel. Made us think of Peri. 

Then did water treadmill and a few more minutes in the field. Kelli said he looked good but I mentioned he felt behind my leg. She said his tempo and balance were beautiful but she noticed that I was getting sucked into thumping every stride. Yes... so much yes. And I have noted it too but just... hadn't done anything about it. 

Borrowed her dressage whip and went into arena and did a few more minutes of trot to get him to respond to my aids. After one whip tap... he was forward and going. so.. must remember to not get sucked into it and start carrying my whip again. 

Bipolar Weather: Sunshine today

 

We headed to Ashland today. We started our ride in the jump arena. We did some lateral work and walked some cross rails. He didn't stick his tongue out at all. Yay! So then we trotted and even had a decent half pass. And still no tongue! Then we hacked to the cross country field and did some water treadmill therapy and trotted some hills. Then we met Kelli and Marvin and went for a long hack. It was nice. 

 

 

 

When I was riding Lyric, him and Funny were having a grooming session.

 

We took a chance!

We took a chance on the weather today and it paid off! Yesterday the weather channel showed a 30% chance this morning and then not much of anything all day. And we had the time change last night so we lost an hour. So when I finally got up around 8 am, it was technically 9 am. And the sun was shining and it was almost warm! Lovely! So as I was feeding I checked the weather and... it was supposed to start raining at 11:15 am and then basically rain all day. Noooo! Although I did have plans this afternoon to go meet Kelli for more fairy hair and then an early dinner, so I was going to have to leave at 2:30 anyways. 

 

But dangit, I wanted to ride. So, I fed ponies as quick as I could, had a quick bowl of cereal and then changed clothes and headed out the door. It was still sunny but you could see dark skies in the distance. I was a little afraid that it would be raining before I made it to Ashland as it was probably 11 by the time I got there. I figured we could stay in the woods and hopefully stay dry. 

 

I did a quick groom and hopped on and off we went. And... we didn't get rained on at all! Well, okay.. it sprinkled for about 5 minutes but I barely got wet because we were in the woods. You could hear it but that was about it. We had a lovely ride. And he was sound today. (So... saddle?? just a bad day??) We did the hilly loop and did some longer stretches of trot. He felt good today! 

We finished going up sideways and ended in the XC field. I was hoping to say hi to Aubrey who was visiting and teaching and my timing was almost impeccable. She had sent the riders out to trot to the far corner and back so when I walked up, it was just people. So I got to say a quick hi! I tried to give her a hug but even though she's tall, I still almost fell off and then she had to fend off Dan. ha ha. 

 

We made it back to the trailer and it was looking darker, so I closed his one window above the ramp so he didn't get soaked. And sure enough, about 1/4 of the way home, it started raining.  But whoo hooo! The risk taking paid off and we had a lovely ride.