Back at it

Posted on August 30, 2017 by the_everything_pony

Amber got her feet trimmed! And they look so pretty.

The clouds came over shortly after work, so I got all dressed and ready to go….aaaaaaand the wind started. Which in turn brought the rain.

But thankfully, it didn’t last long (boy has it been a weird summer/monsoon season here) so I got chores done and hopped on for a quick ride.

I took it easy since she’d just gotten trimmed a few hours before, and she was really great. She felt much smoother than before, and when we trotted I mostly focused on me and just let her hack along on a loose rein. I had to reinforce a bit of straightness, but she fell into the ride very quickly. I didn’t have my spurs on since it was a light ride, but just for giggles gathered up the contact once in the trot and boom she was right there and just started working into it. This horse, guys. I love her.

It helps that she’s got a mean yawn face

She still likes to do something funky (which is my way of saying I can’t describe it) with her shoulders (which goes into her neck and head) when we do our circles on contact, but she and I are both beginning to understand that outside rein. (At least I hope we are) Once I fixed me a little better, focused on getting my position right, she let me know she liked it and has been working with relative confidence through it. So we practiced a lot of those circles to the walk, and she’s really beginning to understand the idea.

I cantered just a little with her, and her left lead felt very elastic. I would hold with my calf and she’d try this marvelous half halt – not in contact (mostly because I only had very light if not no contact) but boy is she starting to understand what I’d like from her. I picked up my reins a few strides, and just like the trot she settled right in. After almost a week of no riding – or at least “training” – I was so tickled with her. Her right lead was a little harder. I think she had to understand that it was no longer so uncomfortable, and once she did she started developing more elasticity with not-so-good half halts but they were more in contact. I will take all that as progress, however mish-mashed that is lol.

Then we walked a bit longer, I did some circles both ways in contact with just some straight walking in contact, and she’s really gaining confidence in it. She’s getting very peaceful with contact and just ready to work in it until I release it. My position was less awesome today (thank you extra pounds from cake that I have yet to work off) but I actually got it pretty well for a while of trotting. I let her go at her own pace, and challenged my body to be ready to go with her flow. When I set myself right, her pace miraculously matched mine. When I let my grip come off my inner thighs and my abs to go lax, her pace would be inconsistent. It was good learning for us both! So happy we could finally get to work again.

Yay for more pony time today!