Lesson!

I know, it's been awhile. But never fear that I'm not keeping track of my New Year's Resolution! I have a special calendar, which contains snippets of my ride, or giant sad faces on the days that I didn't ride.

So, lesson today! I'd been practicing backing (the truck and trailer, that is!) I left a little bit early so that I could back into my designated parking space in the daylight. Which my instructor gave me a bit of a hard time for, but at least she got me to park there. It's a better lit spot, for tacking up when it gets dark so early!

Since Trouble hadn't had any real work in awhile (the 9 inches of snow, remember?) she was happy and eager (mostly) to do my bidding. We still had three moments of, "I thought I was done! I don't want to go more!" tantrums, but they weren't as strong as what I'd been dealing with at home, pre-snow.

Anyway, we worked a good bit on shoulder-fore (a moderated version of shoulder-in). We did alright tracking right, but had a good bit of trouble going right. That's Trouble less bendy direction, anyway. So we digressed into a leg yield along the wall. Where we are 30 deg to the wall, and moving parallel to the wall. That at least got Trouble moving off my leg. I definitely need to work at staying straight for that. I get all discombobulated, which isn't helping Trouble at all!

So we have homework! Leg yields along the wall, getting her moving off my leg. Instructor said to just do that much and get it good, and then we'll get back to shoulder-fores and even shoulder-outs. Very convoluted stuff, but it all should help Trouble become more bendy in both directions.

AND, the most exciting news of the day. I've been feeding the horses old Nature's Valley granola bars. They're just too soft (old and stale!) to be good people-eating food anymore. Trouble, as always, is happy to oblige with getting rid of them. The box we have is a giant variety pack. Both critters have sampled the Oats and Honey and the Maple varieties. Today, they had Peanut Butter. Trouble has decided that those are HER FAVORITE THING OF EARTH. Hmmm, might have to get some more of those!

Jan 2011 Snow!

We got 7.5 inches of snow overnight. That's more than I've seen since we lived here! Horses seemed to do fine in it.






We made a snowman inside the horse pasture. Used horse droppings for eyes! And carrots for noses. So, I'm sure you know what happened next.

First Lesson of the New Year

And some crazy spotted horse did NOT want to go. It took me about 10 min to catch her. Not too long, all things considered, but she's usually easy to bring in. And she definitely had some get up and go. Only took a little leg to move off! So, my instructor had us work on downward transitions (no fun, let's do extended trot when she wants to go!) But, apparently, I'm supposed to get her to do what I want, not what she wants. We also work on turns on the forehand and haunches.

Common themes that instructor said:
1. Sit tall!
2. Bend elbows.
3. Keep butt in saddle (at canter).
4. Chin up!

Brat is Back!

Trouble was a great big brat today. I rode, bareback, again. I cut up a Bit of Britain catalog to make dollar bills with. I managed to never lose my dollars (put one under each leg), even when Trouble bucked and acted like a snot. I'd ask her to go forward, she'd come to an abrupt stop, I'd tap her with the crop, she'd buck... My instructor says to just tap her with the crop, and to keep taping her forever until she goes forward. Hitting harder only makes her madder.... I just wish she would quit doing that! It may be time for a "trail" ride, to reboot her brain. Problem is, it's still hunting season around here.

Lesson tomorrow!

Water Logged!

We got nearly three inches of rain overnight, so today wasn't exactly a great day to ride. But I couldn't not do my New Year's resolution (to ride) on New Year's! So I took Trouble for a spin.

We are back at Full Pond levels, which means we can't go swimming in there. It's nearly six feet deep and the drop off is rather steep, so it's not ideal for swimming. But, when we get tons of rain, the pond backflows into a ditch along our fenceline. Which is just about perfect for riding through! If only the fence wasn't there, we could practice our trot/canter pass throughs!