who s ths?

 wow!! had a lesson at jacels and she was so soft and slwo nt he trot. lke... s she sick?? got worked up once we started jumpng (phew) but soooo much better overall. 

diidn't want to trot, but... when she gets sucked back and rears and I send her forward, she gets to canter... so.. f i just gnore the bucks and rears and just keep turnng her towards the jump, she gves up. and trots. :) avod the fght. 

lovely grl today. settled beautfully and was lstenng and had some fun jumps. I can't get complacent... 'm havng too much fun... sometmes  've gottta get grtty and rde and make t happen. 

fun course work though. 

then hacked wth jacel on smdge. we felt small. funny stll as a bt of a slug. but comng home she was more marchy. ???

wll keep an eye on her

photos: 5-26 soft jumping

not zoomy

 rode at home. not zoomy! quite good. did get a ltitle kicky with left hind and bucky, but at least one of the times  iwas defniitely confining. got a ltitle quick but only a few tmies. played with sit trot and leg yield and shoulder iin. good canters. diid some baby lengthenngs at trot. good pony!

finiished wiith halts and trot walk trots. got fussy but did get some good ones. was liftnig her back some today, especially if i thiink of drawnig her up wtih my seat. 

photos; 5-26 not zoomy

Lunge day

 photos; 4-26 lunge day

lunged because i got off "early" from work and she volunteered. mniimal snacks. ddi ground work frist workng on thoracic lfit. turn on hanches both ways, turn on forehand both ways (trackng rght way harder). swervy poles, ground poles at walk. then put equicore on and lunged. 5 miiniutes trot each way and a lititle canter each way. good pony. nice and soft and relaxed.

love her. followed me to dan too. snuggly

ahhh, good girl

 stormy morning. cancelled liz lesson because of storms. moved repeat mammogram to am instaed of afternoon. then did errands. then cancelled liz's postponed lesson because of stress. had a good talk wth her though. opted to ride. 

took funny first and she was good. stayed at home and diid some thoracic sling work before startng. sooo good overall. much slower tempo. made sure my saddle was back (though may need a narrower plate??? sittngs slihglty low). not n heat, but no buckng or kckng out. got a lttl quck but settled very ncely. ddi some canter early on and then managed to have a nce respectable riide even after. did more rapiid transitons/changes than just settling nto one movement. played with si and hi and sttng trot. gettng better. also dd the trot walk trot transiton MUCH better today. sttng defntely helps. Did some canter transitons. super good grl. phew..  i needed that!

photos: good girl

Good Day, good pony

 photos: Good day

miike told me to go riide while he went to the mountains to ride biikes. yes please. gorgeous day so opted to take both dan and funny to ashland. 

hacked. lovely hack. bloodhound.. headless horse. ;) didn't spook at traiiler like dan (though much less spooky for her... farther away, not as loud,etc). trotted in the woods and got a lovely trot! crossed the creeks... even diid the water complex and the ditch wiithout stoppnig. even the down bank into water! water treadmiill for a few laps.

then arena. good pony. got a ltitle quiuiuick but settled decently. played with sit trot and shoulder ini. improved the trot, walk, trot with sittnig. good girl!

Sitting Trot

 Fun lesson with Liz

worked on sitting trot. Started with walk and walk poles. Set them slightly closer (i need to go measure!) and Funny was really lifting her limbs, iie really engagniig her joinits. then paid attentioni to my pelvis.. the lateral swing both ways. that's how it should move in sit trot. Which... odd, because in postnig trot liz wants me to post more up and down (not front to back) and in the sit, more side to side swing... which, seems to be the opposite of everyone else, but.. ti seems to be worknig! allowed trot after the poles (but not every time cause she's too smart) and was able to get a few good steps ini bweteen. Had to post some and some of my sit was more of a hover trot. but managed a few steps here and there. And ii have to stay uprigiht ini my core too. 

then went to canter from the trot but had to get a good walk then a good trot first. took a bit, but got trhough it. liz was proud of me because i never got angry or frustrated. just ignored the tantrums and kept asknig for what i wanted poliitely. and she threw a few tantrums. Once was naughty enough and had kept escalatinig that Ii got after her but then went beack to neutral, so no big deal. and she needed it. because she wasn't lettnig me get back to good. but then she did. 

got some decent canter and tried to sit the canter, like how i sat the trot. except instead of a bilateral swnig, iit was a unilateral swinig.. except when i needed to rebalance her. Cool!

Fun ride. That was probably the most bounciest and most up her back has felt. Like she felt like she was bucknig almost. and.. ha. sometmies she was. ;) but super cool. and the trot diidn't feel small. Soooo fancy feelnig!! 

oh, and... even quieter. Just when i think i'm benig quiiet... be even quieter. don't even ask, just think canter and she cantered. And then... sometimes it's not pushnig her shoulder around.. ti's openng up my thigh to allow her shoulder to move around. Good gravy! This horse is gonna teach me how to be so soft and kind. And... i can't get ahead of her. because if i think canter at A, when i'm at B... she'll hear canter in my brani and canter at b. 

and... nistead of thinkng of "benig behnd the motion/energy"... think of "letting her energy lead"... in other words... let her lead and follow her, vs having her race to catch up to my energy. 

super fun ride! But... a bit sore ini her pecs and chest and shoulders. So.. definiitely way overdue for an adjustment. But also, make sure my saddle isn't too far forward. Epiphany with dan's... and remember to keep hers back too.

photos: 4-26 sittinig trot

Novice 3 Day Test practice

 Just like big brothers three day... learned the wrong darn test. Wrong year. Luckily just at the schooling show vs at the actual three day.

warmed up much better and more chill. didn't feel like i was going to die or get any children bucked off. stll a bit quick and against my leg. but in heat. so maybe that's part of it. Also need to adjust her soon!

went to do the test and got the bell rung because i didn't halt and salute. (for the record.. there is no halt and salute in the 2022 test). then went again and she rang the bell at the track left... we're not on the same test. Oh.. because it's 2026! Ugh. luckily got to go out and learn it and come back and ride it. honestly not sure it would have gone any better had I ridden it before because it's the same issues, but she was fussier because she had to sit and i didn't get to get her settled again. But she was quite good considering. The walk for 4-6 steps over X is hard though and we definitely need to practice that. our free walk and stretchy trot kinda sucked this go round. 

good pony though.. rinsed off and headed back home to swap out for dan. 

photos: ashland nov test