Heck.. I bet some of the adult horses can't even do what Funny did today! Not only was she a good girl, but she let me open and close the gate without dismounting and then she let me check the mail in the mailbox. :) I'm so proud of her.
She was happy to get groomed and tacked up. I put the jump saddle on her today because duh... I want to stay more balanced and off her back. I mean, yeah... then don't get on her yet... and it's not like I'm sitting the trot, but still. And then suddenly, it was on the floor! UGH. I don't know if I had it sitting off to the side a bit and she shifted or what. Sadness. now it's got a rip in the leather at the cantle. Ugh. I put it back on, and held onto it until I got her girthed up. Jeepers.
We walked up to the arena doing our pillars and then once we got to the arena we did a tiny bit more and then I lunged. Mostly so that she was already thinking of a relaxed neck and lifted back. She cracks me up. She makes the angriest faces at me. And I don't know why... I don't think it's pain.. I think she enjoys it.. I honestly sort of think it's a fun game for her. Like Dan. I don't know. But she looks ferocious! But then she trots on and licks and chews. Weirdo! And she's sound. But anyways.. we lunged for a short little bit and while she was silly with her face there were no shenanigans.
I got on and we didn't do much because... she's still young and I'm trying to preserve her as much as I can. We walked and practiced steering and she's still harder to steer left but much improved when I pay attention to my upper body. GAH! When will I learn! She actually was turning off my body a good bit. Yay! So then we trotted and she was so good. We still struggled a bit with some turns to the left but overall, she was lovely. She was much more relaxed and never hollowed out. I'm not sure she was lifting her back as much as when she lunged, but she seemed much stronger and stayed pretty level in her head carriage. Yay! And no fussing in the bridle or slinging her head around. We still didn't get much contact but I'm not asking for it yet. But there were moments of her being quite soft in the connection. Very brief moments, but yay! We did some figure 8's and some circles and some transitions and called it a day.
Then I rode her to the gate and she let me open it and then close it. She almost closed it herself but wasn't pushy enough. Good girl! We hacked down Jean's driveway and then stopped at the mailbox. She put her nose on it and then let me open and close it. She was a bit farther away then I wanted but didn't react when it moved. Good girl!
Then I hopped off and let her eat some grass as a reward. She's really gonna be such a nice mare. And I'm so happy with her topline and neck muscles. She's just gotta get that booty filled in. I'm hoping to maybe take her to Ashland tomorrow for a trail ride.
And um... when did she get so big??? Surely that's an optical illusion? Surely she's not as big as Lyric???
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