Ok, I know I am way overdue for another installment. I wish I had better and more exciting things to report.
Friday I stayed home sick from work, although I was more tired than sick (which is still reason enough to take a “mental health day”) and I rode Sky after a full week off, which she had due to the horse bites on her back as well as the immense rain that wouldn’t let up last week! Friday, she rode like a horse that hadn’t been ridden in a week –s tiff and a little difficult.
Saturday, Lisa was gone up to her trainer’s barn to stay overnight in order to go to a show on Sunday, so I went up there around five to ride with Betsy and then feed. I met Betsy up behind Lisa’s barn, on the power lines and we rode around the trails and down the lines, and then turned around. Sky was pretty content to be following Harvey and wasn’t too adventurous – we did go over a lot of bridges and she did great at that, although not first.
When I got back, I fed and put everyone away and then went back up on Sunday morning to feed and meet Betsy to go on a Blackwater Trailriders ride. This one was in Northfield on some snowmobile trails which were pretty nice. She did ok on the rocks, I always feel bad when she’s ouchy but after the ride she is never worse for wear. The rocks were not our big issue, though – it was the DEERFLIES! Ewww… they were swarming all of us, horses and people alike and it made the majority of the ride unpleasant. One woman had a fly whisk, which seemed like a genius idea at the time! The rest of us used branches to brush the flies away, which the horses kept trying to eat! Sky and I were both grateful I’d given in and bought her the doily looking ear net thing which was draped over her ears and face. It looks like she just fell out of grandma’s sitting room, but it kept the bugs off!
Anyway, after that ride, I went home and got some pizza with Karl (Feta, Broccoli and Spinach was a bad choice by me) – after that I didn’t feel so good. I don’t blame the pizza, but that didn’t make my stomach feel better. After not sleeping well I did try to drag my butt to work but after one look, they sent me home. I spent the rest of the day sleeping and preparing to die, and thought I felt better the next day. I made it through three hours of work before going home again on Tuesday, but felt much better in the afternoon.
So, I rode Tuesday and Wednesday and that brings us to today. She’s doing great! Her trot is slowed down a lot and her lope is improving at such an impressive rate, I can’t believe it. She has collected her stride so that we are both balanced and she is listening when I ask her not to drop her shoulder. She is still trying to get her head up at the lope, though and I have to tweak her with the reins to get her to drop her head. But she listens and that is the most important thing.
She’s a funny horse, my horse. She is full of personality and heart and shows it all on her face – even Lisa says she has expressions. We’ll be getting ready for the August 10th show, next weekend. Other than that my goal is to get to some cows and do some sorting!
C
Thursday, July 31, 2008
Monday, July 21, 2008
Down Time
So, this past week and weekend were not super eventful. I am trying to be at peace with that being ok.
I am a go-go-go person – even when I’m doing “nothing”, I’m doing something. It drives my ultra laid-back husband crazy.
This past week I rode Sky two days. I gave her a well-deserved day-off on Monday after our trail ride and show over the weekend. Tuesday I rode a little while in the yard. Wednesday it rained. Thursday I rode until the bugs drove Sky and I both crazy. That was an off day. Sky was pissy, I was pissy – it was all bad so I didn’t ride long.
Friday we had a lesson with John. I felt a little ill-prepared but he seemed impressed with how our progress was coming. We worked on the lope, which is good and also worked on extending her trot and pushing her shoulder over in turns. I learned how Sky drops her shoulder going to the left and how to fix it. He thought I should give her a few days off due to the bites on her back, which she is getting from the dominant horses in the herd. They aren’t healing well, so we’re going to take away the stress of the saddle pad rubbing her.
So, Sky had the whole weekend off (we didn’t have anything planned anyway). It’s a strange thing to be away from horses, for me. Sometimes I wonder what life would be like it I didn’t ride. I’ve been riding so long I barely remember. It’s not that I always want to, but it’s a rare occasion for me to not want to be around the smells of hay and leather and the sounds of tails swishing and of grain being eaten. It’s too natural to heft my saddle onto her back and for my foot to find the stirrup.
Riding and horses are such a part of my routine that it hardly ever occurs to me that I’m missing out on something by spending my time at the barn. I feel completely justified in having tan arms and white legs in July, for smelling of bug spray and horse sweat when I finally get home at 830 on a typical weeknight, for talking about Sky the way my friends discuss their kids at parties.
Here and there I’ll get a pang of longing for a “normal girl” life – to have the time and motivation to go get manicures and dedicate entire shopping trips to lip gloss and sunglasses – whatever it is useless girls do. I think in this moment of how I could be sleeping in on Sunday mornings instead of scrubbing white hocks in preparation for another horse show. I think of how many more dinners would be cooked at home and how much more time I would spend with my husband.
But then I remember, quite quickly, the feeling of riding well in a show, of accomplishing a new skill and of four legs below me climbing to the top of a mountain. I think of all the amazing people I have met because of riding and of the incredible places I have been with my horse. I think of the bond she and I have over all the changes we’ve been through together and all the learning that has been done. I remember how badly I wanted horses when I was a young girl and of how it’s still, and always has been, both a thrill and a comfort to be in the saddle.
Needless to say, the idea of not being around horses doesn’t last more than an instant. Then I remember who I am and where I feel at home. I miss Sky after this weekend. Yes, I worked on my quilt that has been ignored, Karl and I saw more of our friends, and I did get some more sleep. But I miss her and I’ll be seeing her tonight after work – I’ll give her one more day off and see how she’s healing. Life as I know and love it goes on.
C
I am a go-go-go person – even when I’m doing “nothing”, I’m doing something. It drives my ultra laid-back husband crazy.
This past week I rode Sky two days. I gave her a well-deserved day-off on Monday after our trail ride and show over the weekend. Tuesday I rode a little while in the yard. Wednesday it rained. Thursday I rode until the bugs drove Sky and I both crazy. That was an off day. Sky was pissy, I was pissy – it was all bad so I didn’t ride long.
Friday we had a lesson with John. I felt a little ill-prepared but he seemed impressed with how our progress was coming. We worked on the lope, which is good and also worked on extending her trot and pushing her shoulder over in turns. I learned how Sky drops her shoulder going to the left and how to fix it. He thought I should give her a few days off due to the bites on her back, which she is getting from the dominant horses in the herd. They aren’t healing well, so we’re going to take away the stress of the saddle pad rubbing her.
So, Sky had the whole weekend off (we didn’t have anything planned anyway). It’s a strange thing to be away from horses, for me. Sometimes I wonder what life would be like it I didn’t ride. I’ve been riding so long I barely remember. It’s not that I always want to, but it’s a rare occasion for me to not want to be around the smells of hay and leather and the sounds of tails swishing and of grain being eaten. It’s too natural to heft my saddle onto her back and for my foot to find the stirrup.
Riding and horses are such a part of my routine that it hardly ever occurs to me that I’m missing out on something by spending my time at the barn. I feel completely justified in having tan arms and white legs in July, for smelling of bug spray and horse sweat when I finally get home at 830 on a typical weeknight, for talking about Sky the way my friends discuss their kids at parties.
Here and there I’ll get a pang of longing for a “normal girl” life – to have the time and motivation to go get manicures and dedicate entire shopping trips to lip gloss and sunglasses – whatever it is useless girls do. I think in this moment of how I could be sleeping in on Sunday mornings instead of scrubbing white hocks in preparation for another horse show. I think of how many more dinners would be cooked at home and how much more time I would spend with my husband.
But then I remember, quite quickly, the feeling of riding well in a show, of accomplishing a new skill and of four legs below me climbing to the top of a mountain. I think of all the amazing people I have met because of riding and of the incredible places I have been with my horse. I think of the bond she and I have over all the changes we’ve been through together and all the learning that has been done. I remember how badly I wanted horses when I was a young girl and of how it’s still, and always has been, both a thrill and a comfort to be in the saddle.
Needless to say, the idea of not being around horses doesn’t last more than an instant. Then I remember who I am and where I feel at home. I miss Sky after this weekend. Yes, I worked on my quilt that has been ignored, Karl and I saw more of our friends, and I did get some more sleep. But I miss her and I’ll be seeing her tonight after work – I’ll give her one more day off and see how she’s healing. Life as I know and love it goes on.
C
Monday, July 14, 2008
Sky’s Busy Weekend
Hi. Here we are again. This past week has been crazy – I’m kind of glad to start over another week.
On a non-horse note to my many blog readers – I know you are out there – my husband, Karl has been pulled from his Army Inactive Duty Status and is being called to report to So
uth Carolina in September – from there he will be deployed, probably to Iraq. It sucks. There isn’t much more to say about that. He’s really upset and in his heart of hearts doesn’t want to go, which I understand. I don’t want him to go either. It’s hard to think about him being away from our house and our dog and our life for another year. When he was in Korea, I think it might have been easier, because we really didn’t have a life together yet. Now, we are finally back home and settled in NH and it’s all going to be uprooted again. It’s not fair.
Anyway, our family and friends are being very supportive about it and I’m sure we’ll make it through ok. It’s just a lot to deal with.
So, our weekend - well, my birthday was this week and we had a show coming up, so I tried to plan a lesson with John. However, rain and schedules and vet checks got in the way, which is fine except that I had to either start reining one handed in the show ring or else go back to the d-ring snaffle. John wanted us to rein one handed, so I tried to practice. The first time didn’t go so well, but rain and thunder interrupted us, so I truly didn’t get much time in over the week.
Saturday rolled around and Betsy was kind enough to pick me up to take me to a Blackwater Trail Riders outing in Webster. There were a total of seven riders, all women of varying ages with equally different horses. The trails were rocky in some parts, but overall it was gorgeous riding! Sky was pretty ouchy but I don’t think we did any damage. I tested her a lot (since what is now known as the jigging episode), taking her to the front of the line, then the back, then the front again… we r
ode beside people and all around and she barely blinked an eye. After about an hour into the ride, four of the ladies wanted to head back, but Betsy, me and a woman named Denise decided to go out longer. On the way back, we were loping and Denise’s horse bucked and she bailed… now, this is not funny except that Sky watched with her ears perked as the horse bucked and shied across the trail at the sight of the woman flying through the air. It was almost like she was saying, “where’s she going?!” BTW, the woman was fine.
So, we made it back to the trailers and shared lunch items and chatted. It was nice.
When we got back to Lisa’s, I went home, fell asleep for a while, and then went back to get Sky ready for the show. Sunday morning, we were at Oak Rise bright and early. We chatted with John for a while, who told us this judge likes horses that move out more. (score for Sky and I)
I got on as soon as I could and did a lot of warm up. She looked and felt great, walking and trotting with her headset right on the vertical and going at a great pace.
Through the day, things got better. We placed 2nd of 3 in Equitation, 2nd of 3 in Adult Pleasure, 1st of 3 in Western Pleasure, 1st of 2 in Trail and 1st of 2 in Discipline Rail. We
tied for the high point opposite the overweight, overly made-up woman riding a big bay western pleasure quarter horse that moves about as slow as molasses. Next time we’ll beat her all the way (I’m not competitive at all, btw)
Lisa had a weird day. Since the judge wanted horses that moved out, he told her that’s what he wanted to see when he placed her low in one of her eight (count them, eight) classes. So, she practiced and got Onyx to move out more (not a natural thing for either of them considering that they’ve worked very hard to get her as s-l-o-w as she is). She placed low again. So, she asked the judge why. He tells her that the canter was better, but the trot was still not moving out enough. So, she works on that – still places low… not fair, in my humble opinion. So, she finishes the day thinking she should have just kept doing what she was doing in the beginning ‘cause that’s what wins her everywhere else!
I feel bad that she didn’t have a good day considering the first Oak Rise she went to wasn’t good for her either. Now she’s more invested in LRSS and I’m more invested in Oak Rise since I didn’t go to two of the LRSS and I went to Oak Rise when she was in MA. She has a wedding to go to on the 10th, which is the next one for both, so I’ll probably get a ride there and back somehow another way and do Oak Rise 4 – I figure if I go to the rest of them, I should stay ahead in points b/c this lady wasn’t at the first show.
Anyway, I hung my ribbons up on my new “wall of fame” and am moving on – back to work. Sky will get a day off today and then we’ll continue to work on our lope take off etc.
Take care, all. And Thanks!
On a non-horse note to my many blog readers – I know you are out there – my husband, Karl has been pulled from his Army Inactive Duty Status and is being called to report to So
uth Carolina in September – from there he will be deployed, probably to Iraq. It sucks. There isn’t much more to say about that. He’s really upset and in his heart of hearts doesn’t want to go, which I understand. I don’t want him to go either. It’s hard to think about him being away from our house and our dog and our life for another year. When he was in Korea, I think it might have been easier, because we really didn’t have a life together yet. Now, we are finally back home and settled in NH and it’s all going to be uprooted again. It’s not fair.Anyway, our family and friends are being very supportive about it and I’m sure we’ll make it through ok. It’s just a lot to deal with.
So, our weekend - well, my birthday was this week and we had a show coming up, so I tried to plan a lesson with John. However, rain and schedules and vet checks got in the way, which is fine except that I had to either start reining one handed in the show ring or else go back to the d-ring snaffle. John wanted us to rein one handed, so I tried to practice. The first time didn’t go so well, but rain and thunder interrupted us, so I truly didn’t get much time in over the week.
Saturday rolled around and Betsy was kind enough to pick me up to take me to a Blackwater Trail Riders outing in Webster. There were a total of seven riders, all women of varying ages with equally different horses. The trails were rocky in some parts, but overall it was gorgeous riding! Sky was pretty ouchy but I don’t think we did any damage. I tested her a lot (since what is now known as the jigging episode), taking her to the front of the line, then the back, then the front again… we r
ode beside people and all around and she barely blinked an eye. After about an hour into the ride, four of the ladies wanted to head back, but Betsy, me and a woman named Denise decided to go out longer. On the way back, we were loping and Denise’s horse bucked and she bailed… now, this is not funny except that Sky watched with her ears perked as the horse bucked and shied across the trail at the sight of the woman flying through the air. It was almost like she was saying, “where’s she going?!” BTW, the woman was fine.So, we made it back to the trailers and shared lunch items and chatted. It was nice.
When we got back to Lisa’s, I went home, fell asleep for a while, and then went back to get Sky ready for the show. Sunday morning, we were at Oak Rise bright and early. We chatted with John for a while, who told us this judge likes horses that move out more. (score for Sky and I)
I got on as soon as I could and did a lot of warm up. She looked and felt great, walking and trotting with her headset right on the vertical and going at a great pace.
Through the day, things got better. We placed 2nd of 3 in Equitation, 2nd of 3 in Adult Pleasure, 1st of 3 in Western Pleasure, 1st of 2 in Trail and 1st of 2 in Discipline Rail. We
tied for the high point opposite the overweight, overly made-up woman riding a big bay western pleasure quarter horse that moves about as slow as molasses. Next time we’ll beat her all the way (I’m not competitive at all, btw)Lisa had a weird day. Since the judge wanted horses that moved out, he told her that’s what he wanted to see when he placed her low in one of her eight (count them, eight) classes. So, she practiced and got Onyx to move out more (not a natural thing for either of them considering that they’ve worked very hard to get her as s-l-o-w as she is). She placed low again. So, she asked the judge why. He tells her that the canter was better, but the trot was still not moving out enough. So, she works on that – still places low… not fair, in my humble opinion. So, she finishes the day thinking she should have just kept doing what she was doing in the beginning ‘cause that’s what wins her everywhere else!
I feel bad that she didn’t have a good day considering the first Oak Rise she went to wasn’t good for her either. Now she’s more invested in LRSS and I’m more invested in Oak Rise since I didn’t go to two of the LRSS and I went to Oak Rise when she was in MA. She has a wedding to go to on the 10th, which is the next one for both, so I’ll probably get a ride there and back somehow another way and do Oak Rise 4 – I figure if I go to the rest of them, I should stay ahead in points b/c this lady wasn’t at the first show.
Anyway, I hung my ribbons up on my new “wall of fame” and am moving on – back to work. Sky will get a day off today and then we’ll continue to work on our lope take off etc.
Take care, all. And Thanks!
Monday, July 7, 2008
A Follower No More/Clinton Anderson Weekend
Part I – Fourth of July
Fourth of July – I had the day off so wanted to go riding for a while. Lisa and I agreed to trail ride, so I invited Betsy from just down the road. Our group grew when Lisa’s husband, Josh decided to come along with two of their guy friends. So, those guys took over the most broke horses and Lisa decided to ride their young mare, who doesn’t have a lot of saddle time. She figured that she would go well in a large group.
Since we were taking so many horses, she put the other two in stalls and we used the paddock as our access to the power lines. Now, I’m pretty used to being the green one in the bunch, with my horse feeling the need to tuck in behind somebody’s butt and hide “I’m not looking, I’m not looking”… But Sky today decided that she was ready to be the leader. Once we got on our way, I found myself being the one asking, “Which way?” and actually stopping her so everyone could catch up. Now, she has faked me out before, leading about ten minutes or so, then doing the dive and tuck behind the first available horse.
I guess all of my pushing her out into the front and beside other horses made her more confident. She led the whole way out, over bridges, through a little water, and through ditches and spooky stuff. Now, I should have seen this coming considering she was so proud-as-punch to be in front, but I somehow was surprised when we turned to go home.
She was now in the back and un-happy… grrr… now it was jig, jig, jig, jig Grrr… Double Grr… If there is one thing I really cannot stand, it’s a jig… jig,… jig… GRRR…
I seriously thought she was going to explode from the inside out, she had so much energy. I tried to get her to slow down, (no) tried to get her to do a trot (no), even asked her to lope (really no, that got us nearly bucked)… My gracious!
Luckily, Betsy wanted to show me how to get to her house so we separated from the group and after ten minutes, she was following Harvey with no problem. After that ride, I was pretty determined to fix that and in a hurry!
Part II – Clinton Anderson
Now, I’d been planning this since December. Of course I am disappointed that Marcia didn’t go and that I couldn’t give away the other tickets, but oh, well. My great friend, Beth came through with her trooperness and came with.
The hard bleachers were the worst part (my butt is still recovering!). The riding demos were the best part (I am now recommitted to doing reining and cow-horse someday) After seeing all the problem horses and issues people have, I am reaffirmed that Sky is a pretty good horse. However, she has a lot of finishing work to do to get her where I want her. I am taking away from the weekend to do more groundwork even when I don’t think it’s necessary, to train on the trail more, to work on refining the maneuverability of the different parts of her body, and to flex, flex, flex (which I have stupidly stopped doing)
Clinton Anderson has a ton of sayings, likes to talk, and does this annoying thing where he acts like he wants everyone to finish his sentence (all the time). However, I still like his methods. I love how he calls people tree huggers, is honest about what the horse is here to do for people, and is very black and white about what he does. I think he makes sense. He reminds me of Josh from NM but more talkative and full of himself. They both say basically that training is all pressure and release. That’s it. The horse does not share your emotions and does not think the way you do.
Anyway, it was good. Beth joined the No Worries Club and got a bunch of DVD’s. I hope she actually uses them to get control of her babies. She’s put so much into them to not succeed now. I showed amazing restraint and only got the $10 Training on the Trail book, which I hope will help me solve our little jigging problem! I’ll admit I wanted the stick and the halter/lead rope and lots of stuff, but I figure the method is more important than the stuff.
So, this week I’ll be getting ready to show at Oak Rise on Sunday. I’m not sure how to rein, considering we have a shank bit now, but still riding two handed. I’ll do a lesson with John this week, hopefully, to get ready.
Take care, Me.
Fourth of July – I had the day off so wanted to go riding for a while. Lisa and I agreed to trail ride, so I invited Betsy from just down the road. Our group grew when Lisa’s husband, Josh decided to come along with two of their guy friends. So, those guys took over the most broke horses and Lisa decided to ride their young mare, who doesn’t have a lot of saddle time. She figured that she would go well in a large group.
Since we were taking so many horses, she put the other two in stalls and we used the paddock as our access to the power lines. Now, I’m pretty used to being the green one in the bunch, with my horse feeling the need to tuck in behind somebody’s butt and hide “I’m not looking, I’m not looking”… But Sky today decided that she was ready to be the leader. Once we got on our way, I found myself being the one asking, “Which way?” and actually stopping her so everyone could catch up. Now, she has faked me out before, leading about ten minutes or so, then doing the dive and tuck behind the first available horse.
I guess all of my pushing her out into the front and beside other horses made her more confident. She led the whole way out, over bridges, through a little water, and through ditches and spooky stuff. Now, I should have seen this coming considering she was so proud-as-punch to be in front, but I somehow was surprised when we turned to go home.
She was now in the back and un-happy… grrr… now it was jig, jig, jig, jig Grrr… Double Grr… If there is one thing I really cannot stand, it’s a jig… jig,… jig… GRRR…
I seriously thought she was going to explode from the inside out, she had so much energy. I tried to get her to slow down, (no) tried to get her to do a trot (no), even asked her to lope (really no, that got us nearly bucked)… My gracious!
Luckily, Betsy wanted to show me how to get to her house so we separated from the group and after ten minutes, she was following Harvey with no problem. After that ride, I was pretty determined to fix that and in a hurry!
Part II – Clinton Anderson
Now, I’d been planning this since December. Of course I am disappointed that Marcia didn’t go and that I couldn’t give away the other tickets, but oh, well. My great friend, Beth came through with her trooperness and came with.
The hard bleachers were the worst part (my butt is still recovering!). The riding demos were the best part (I am now recommitted to doing reining and cow-horse someday) After seeing all the problem horses and issues people have, I am reaffirmed that Sky is a pretty good horse. However, she has a lot of finishing work to do to get her where I want her. I am taking away from the weekend to do more groundwork even when I don’t think it’s necessary, to train on the trail more, to work on refining the maneuverability of the different parts of her body, and to flex, flex, flex (which I have stupidly stopped doing)
Clinton Anderson has a ton of sayings, likes to talk, and does this annoying thing where he acts like he wants everyone to finish his sentence (all the time). However, I still like his methods. I love how he calls people tree huggers, is honest about what the horse is here to do for people, and is very black and white about what he does. I think he makes sense. He reminds me of Josh from NM but more talkative and full of himself. They both say basically that training is all pressure and release. That’s it. The horse does not share your emotions and does not think the way you do.
Anyway, it was good. Beth joined the No Worries Club and got a bunch of DVD’s. I hope she actually uses them to get control of her babies. She’s put so much into them to not succeed now. I showed amazing restraint and only got the $10 Training on the Trail book, which I hope will help me solve our little jigging problem! I’ll admit I wanted the stick and the halter/lead rope and lots of stuff, but I figure the method is more important than the stuff.
So, this week I’ll be getting ready to show at Oak Rise on Sunday. I’m not sure how to rein, considering we have a shank bit now, but still riding two handed. I’ll do a lesson with John this week, hopefully, to get ready.
Take care, Me.
Tuesday, July 1, 2008
Settling In
New places are funny. Yesterday I went out to Lisa’s after work (after getting on the highway the wrong way and having to turn around!) to ride. No one was home, so I went out to the barn and spotted Sky waaaayyy out back, away from the rest of the herd who was by the barn. Now, going out to get her was not what made me hesitate – it was having to cross the mud lined stream that was between me and her.
Lisa came home while I was still plotting the best way to go and before I could protest, she climbed aboard her only gelding bareback with my lead rope as a lasso. Her husband and I had a good laugh as she tried to snag Sky but she was pretty proud of her cowgirl skills when she brought her to the barn.
Sky rode really well. I loped her off about three times each way and she did good. It’s really cool to feel her tuck her butt under her and push into the lope with her butt rather than the leaping lunge that she used to use to take off with her front end. I get less nervous about it every time we go, so that’s good too.
I worked on other things too – reining too handed but neck reining a little too. We stopped and departed from the stop at the trot, which she does well. We worked a little on turning on the haunches and the forehand and a little on side-passing. I rode with Lisa’s lesson girl, who’s about 16 and riding her pokey old show mare. I was surprised to find that her yard area where we ride is big enough to have two riders, which is good.
When we were finished, I let my mind wander a little and let Sky go wherever. To my surprise she perked her ears up and headed toward the road.. .mmm… Now, I am happy that the traffic going by didn’t seem to bother her and that the close proximity to the road will only make that better, but I didn’t expect her to want to go that way… So, I said to myself “what the heck” and encouraged her toward the cornfield/power lines that we had ridden toward before. She poked her way pretty bravely through Lisa’s neighbors yard (she has permission), through old cars and scary stuff. I had to push her a little to go up the little slope beside the cornfield but she went along well. In typical Sky fashion, she stopped about three times and tried to chicken out and go home, but I kept her going and made it my own decision to turn around when I got to the end of the field. A job well done, I thought.
I am trying to convince Lisa to go trail riding on the 4th, and I think Betsy will come too. John is being really supportive with our progress and our next show is July 13th at Oak Rise, which Lisa’s is willing to give another try.
Till next time,
C
Lisa came home while I was still plotting the best way to go and before I could protest, she climbed aboard her only gelding bareback with my lead rope as a lasso. Her husband and I had a good laugh as she tried to snag Sky but she was pretty proud of her cowgirl skills when she brought her to the barn.
Sky rode really well. I loped her off about three times each way and she did good. It’s really cool to feel her tuck her butt under her and push into the lope with her butt rather than the leaping lunge that she used to use to take off with her front end. I get less nervous about it every time we go, so that’s good too.
I worked on other things too – reining too handed but neck reining a little too. We stopped and departed from the stop at the trot, which she does well. We worked a little on turning on the haunches and the forehand and a little on side-passing. I rode with Lisa’s lesson girl, who’s about 16 and riding her pokey old show mare. I was surprised to find that her yard area where we ride is big enough to have two riders, which is good.
When we were finished, I let my mind wander a little and let Sky go wherever. To my surprise she perked her ears up and headed toward the road.. .mmm… Now, I am happy that the traffic going by didn’t seem to bother her and that the close proximity to the road will only make that better, but I didn’t expect her to want to go that way… So, I said to myself “what the heck” and encouraged her toward the cornfield/power lines that we had ridden toward before. She poked her way pretty bravely through Lisa’s neighbors yard (she has permission), through old cars and scary stuff. I had to push her a little to go up the little slope beside the cornfield but she went along well. In typical Sky fashion, she stopped about three times and tried to chicken out and go home, but I kept her going and made it my own decision to turn around when I got to the end of the field. A job well done, I thought.
I am trying to convince Lisa to go trail riding on the 4th, and I think Betsy will come too. John is being really supportive with our progress and our next show is July 13th at Oak Rise, which Lisa’s is willing to give another try.
Till next time,
C
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