Super STAR!

 Very good baby girl!

Windy day and she was super! Lunging yesterday may have helped. ;) 

rode and was so good. Actually lifting her back and coming into the bridle on her own... going into the outside "connection" though still super soft connection, but bending her body and stepping square and upright into the outside. leg yields were better than her sisters even at the trot! Well, maybe not, but pretty close. Canter was nice, though we missed the left lead a few times but got it a few times too! 

Did spin and bolt with her tail tucked but legitimately. random styrofoam to go box that flew into and across the arena spooked her. Me too! I got off and wedged it between some jump standards. 

good girl!

oh, and she also closes the gate like Big Brother! She pushes it with her nose too! So smart!

Lunging Day

 Today I opted to lunge Funny instead of riding because... the winds were a bit whippy! And I was short on time as I spent the morning and early afternoon studying. So, we lunged. Besides, she needs to spend some time in a nice frame instead of bracing with me on her, so.. it was good for her. She was a good girl and trotted and walked quite nicely. The canter.... not as much. She didn't quite want to go into it but did and was fine. We kept it short and simple and then she got to go back out.  :) Good pony!

 

The skies were so pretty this afternoon after the storms all night. They were soggy ponies this morning!

ARGHHHHHH

 Today was ridiculous! And I'm going to vent but I'm already over it. I had a lesson today and decided that I wanted to take Funny for some dressage because... Laura and Julia couldn't make it so I would get a private lesson and I love my dressage lessons with Jacel. But I also love my jump lessons but since there was no one to jump with, I would take advantage. So yay! 

I checked the weather even this morning and there was a small chance of a passing shower but it was short and didn't look like a big deal. And lately... all of our "weather threats" have proved to be just threats.. we've hardly gotten any rain despite a 10 day forecast of all rain. So... we head out early because I needed gas and we get to Ashland early. No big deal.. I'll go for a warm up hack. So I start to get Funny groomed and tacked up and it starts sprinkling here and there. It only lasted a tiny bit and went away and then came back again. But no big deal. So then I get her tacked up and was about to hop on and it starts raining. Legit rain but not bad. So I swing up to keep my saddle dry and then it just starts pouring!! Also, the ashland crew was taking down the arena's from the show so there was a lot going on. And Kelli had just pulled in with her trailer. I wanted to say hi but Funny was getting super antsy and tight and I wanted to get in the woods to avoid the rain. So I waved and apologized and we headed out. And then it started coming down even harder! Good grief! At this point there was nothing I could do. I doubted I could get Funny to get in the trailer, even if I took the time to untack her. So... we kept on going and tried to stay under the trees. But it didn't matter. We were both soaked. My underwear was wet and holding water, my boots had pooled water, my bra was wet... my helmet kept pouring water off the brim onto my saddle. Sigh... My gloves were soaking wet. 

 

But Funny settled and was a good girl hiking in the rain. We walked to the lake and then back and went to the dressage arena. I walked about two or three laps and was waiting on Jacel, who was running late because her student before me was almost 30 min late. I picked up a trot and did two circles and my phone rang. I tried to answer it as it was Lucy but my phone was so waterlogged it wouldn't let me do anything. So then she texted and asked if I hadn't started riding yet if I could not use the arena and put hoofprints in it before the rain. (They had just drug it I guess). Sigh.... I get it. It's totally fair. But I was cranky because dangit I wanted a dressage lesson. And I was sopping wet so I was extra cranky. So I hollered to Kelli and then headed up to the jump arena to just do my lesson up there. Not a huge deal. Except Jacel was finishing and said that it was so much rain so quick that she made them stop jumping because they were creating big divots already. UGH.... I guess in retrospect, maybe a flat ride wouldn't have been as big of a deal because we might not have created divots without jumping, but... it's a priviledge to ride at Ashland and I didn't want to upset Lucy or damage the arenas. So... we just started laughing... like.. it's POURING rain... we're all soaked entirely through... it's just ridiculous. So we decided to do a lesson in the XC field. We could do a dressage lesson down there and not tear up footing and we were already soaked through anyways.... why not!? So we did. Of course once we got out there it cleared up and stopped raining. 

 

But the geese were out there. A TON of geese. And Funny was not having it. So... I explained how XC went so figured maybe this was a good thing because we could work through things. And.. it was. I know it was. But quite frankly, it was frustrating. Because I basically had to just spin her in circles and do figure 8's and changes of directions and changes in gait while she had a meltdown about the geese. And... we did make progress. She went from totally blowing me off and throwing her shoulders around to cocking one ear at me and staying more balanced. But... you know... not the dressage ride I wanted by any stretch of the imagination. We finally moved to the water complex and made her trot in circles in there to help her pay attention but by then the geese had moved a hair closer to the water complex so she was counter bent on one side the whole time. And again.. it's fine, because we worked through it. But it wasn't a fun ride by any stretch. So then Courtney showed up so we were pretty much done. I went and got Jacels' phone for her and brought it back. And then... I tried to leave and Funny threw a tantrum and didn't want to leave them. Grrrr....I managed to send her forward and we even got a nice semi-straight trot. Then I made her trot two logs and she managed to stay between my aids and steered quite nicely. So then we went back to stadium area and I decided to do a little bit more trotting in the grassy area up there. I don't know... I guess I felt like we hadn't really accomplished anything... And she was naughty there too, but we finished with some pretty decent trot circles without her throwing her shoulders every which way and threatening to go the opposite way. So... maybe I accomplished more than I think, because... I won. She didn't get to go the way she wanted and we didn't get into a big fight about it... I just persisted. So yeah.. I guess we'll see what happens our next rides there. 

She was hot and sweaty and wet and covered in sand. So she got a rinse and we headed home. I had to dry out and clean my tack but my saddle seemed to have fared okay thank goodness!

Ameoba Time

 Warmed up beautifullly (video) much less feral and jumpy

Got tight and tense and crooked in test, but... kind of where we are at this point. Scored a 41. stayed in arena.. no attempts to escape

Hung out at trailer with Peri and Pixie

Stadium warm up was a bit spooky. kid moved rope.. deers... 

stadium... thought fences 9 and 10 were on course... and they were BN height! NOPE! But nope.. ha ha.. only had 8 fences. Jumped pretty darn well. not that wiggly. Even cantered one or two. no rails

walked to XC but was there early i guess. No one was there but someone walking course. Funny got a little anxious. finally lois and spur came down and funny decided they were besties. jumped two logs to warm up. Then went first so that we didn't "chase them down" except... she didn't want to leave him. drunken XC... she was going every way but the correct way... bolted legit once and semi legit another time. but jumped all the things and managed to canter the last two fences home normally despite me suspecting she would bolt towards her friend. 

finished 3rd of 4... we all finished on our dressage score. hee hee.. we'll get there

Then wouldn't load for a bit. Thought she might be colicking becacuse she doesn't drink. Going to have to figure out whether she needs a bigger bucket... or sweet tea... or ?? But she drank at home and then went to grazing and was fine. 

So easy and so tough

 Fun buns and I had a good day! 

I rode Lyric first and then it was Funny's turn. I put on her new bridle because I was hoping to show in it Saturday and tomorrow is a busy day. It fits good but her forelock gets stuck in the crystals. Ha ha!

 

We hacked up to the arena and she was a good girl. We had a decent ride. She's a little stiffer to the right today and we had to do a lot of circles to get her to let go. But we made progress. We also struggled with the left lead some but also got it more than we didn't. And especially towards the end. We played a little bit with the poles too. I tried to ride with a slightly shorter rein today and keep a better feel of her mouth. Not a heavy contact at all.. but contact. She wasn't thrilled but she wasn't terrible either. And I didn't hang either so yay for that! I still tried very much to ride off my seat and legs. We also played a little bit with walk and trot leg yields and she kind of gets it! 

 

Then we went home via the pasture and I thought... maybe let's jump the baby jump. Then I realized it was fairly big, so I thought I'd walk up to it and let her see it. She marched right up to it and before I even knew what was happening she had marched right over it. Okay then! ;) So we turned around and trotted to it and she took a big ol' flying leap over it! And we landed in a big bold canter but she didn't buck or take off! Ohhhhhh, baby girl LOVES eventing!!! 

  

So then we walked home and she got a bath. She was so sweaty because they all popped the start of their winter coats but then it got hot and humid again. Not terrible, but... enough. Plus I was giggling because her tail is orange. And like.. it's supposed to be but the white streak was tie dyed orange from the red clay too. I'm not sure she'll stay clean until Saturday but I figured it was worth a shot. And worst case scenario.. it'll be hard to tell if she's dirty. ;) Oh, she also got her mane trimmed as it had gotten a bit long again. 

 

And later, I rode Dan at Ashland and the XC course was set. So I was lazy and hacked him around to figure out the flow because Caroline tends to make zig zaggy courses and it's a lot of walking! Especially when the baby horse is tied to the trailer or in the trailer in a busy horse show environment. So we found the course and it looks fun. But honestly... she probably could have fun starter! It's crazy how the amoeba and starter jumps look small for her, but.. they didn't for Lyric. The green baby cabin/bench thing was flagged starter. Well poo... But it's okay. No sense in overwhelming or rushing her. We'll have fun. Besides, it's the dressage that's going to be the scariest part! Although I'm guessing starter probably rides Intro C too. Oh well. Baby steps. We'll hopefully have a blast on Saturday!

 

So... MUCH.... excitement!!!!

 Today was quite the day!! 

We didn't get to have our Jacel lesson so we improvised. I asked Kelli if she would mind hanging out while we "jumped" to practice before the show. So we met up at Ashland and decided to ride in the arena's first. Kelli wanted to get some riding in and I figured I could practice my test with Funny. 

She was a bit rowdy at first and was a little jumpy. But then she settled and we had some decent work. Until we cantered. Then it got a bit squirrely again. And someone had set the arena letters in the corners to encourage their students to ride deep. Totally fair... but NOT totally fair for the very green baby horse. It basically forced us to cut our corners because they were so deep that it wasn't fair but the line I wanted to ride meant I had to run her into the cones. Oh well. We also had some issues with her jumping out of the arena, which made me very cranky. We ran through the test and it was pretty awful. Then we practiced the canter some more and it was not going well. I don't know why we were struggling again today. Oh well. Kelli finished up and offered to watch us run through the test so we gave it one more shot. And it was awful again. Doh. Oh well. 

We headed up to the jump arena and trotted around. They were all set as cross rails so we jumped about 3 to warm up. Then Kelli set them all up as verticals. They were mostly 18" but she had one or two maybe at 2'. And then we left the two gates up... one with a pole on top. Eeeks! I honestly am not sure Funny's ever really "jumped" other than logs on the cross country field and cross rails. And the one little vertical at home. I mean... she could walk over them. And some of them she did. But some of these verticals were legit jumps! But... I had signed up for ameoba and it was 18" verticals, so... we figured we might as well practice. And she was SUPER! She honestly jumped them all like she knew what she was supposed to do! She even picked up the canter one or two strides out to a few. And yes, she pulled a few rails down because she didn't pick her feet up or misjudged it. 

I was also not very nice and sent her to the bigger gate on a sharp turn right after we sort of scrambled through the watermelon fence at the end, which is also off a not so nice turn. And she stopped at the gate. But yeah... that was totally not a nice way to introduce that. So we jumped some more verticals and then jumped the smaller gate and she just went on over it. She peeked at it as she went over, but she was brave. Then we came back to the bigger gate without the horrible turn and she jumped it too!! We did the course two or three times and she was so freakin' smart!! 

Kelli videoed her at the end for me because I wanted proof of her first gate. :) She was getting tired though. Poor baby!

So then Kelli had mentioned that I was riding her really nicely up here and suggested I go back down and try the dressage test again. I was sitting up straighter and riding her body better, so we headed back down. And it was awful. She was tired and behind my leg and getting a bit naughty. So then Kelli asked if she could make a suggestion. I agreed because I was in a good head space still. Kelli said that up top, I had a shorter rein and had kept a connection to her mouth. It looked like I was able to ride her a bit more straight and then she would come into the connection on her own. And she was right... I had the softest of feels on her mouth. Like... not even a pound of weight. BUT... there was a bit of a connection because I was focusing on steering and not crashing into standards I guess?! So... I (slightly begrudgingly, because... dangit... I don't want to hang on her mouth) tried it... and it made a big difference! She was more forward and flowy and wasn't as locked. She was more through and straighter in her body in a good way. She didn't try to wiggle out of the arena. And she wasn't as fussy in the connection. She stayed fairly consistently in a nice shape vs occasionally hollowing and throwing her nose to the sky. And she seemed happier and more confident too. Sigh... Whoops. In my effort to do the right thing, I sort of forgot when I was able to then ask for more again. And it was still the softest of contacts. Like... barely a pound of connection. But it was enough. We still blew the left lead canter but we got it on the second attempt. Side note... on that, I really almost have to sit back onto her tail to get it. I don't know why but that seems to be the most consistent today. I think posting on the wrong diagonal and outside leg helps too. 

So yeah... on Saturday I'll have to remember to hold the second rein stop for our dressage test. Kelli said it was about 10 points difference in our score, if not more. And... we're not doing it for the score, but... she does need to learn. Like Jacel keeps saying... set the bar high, but be realistic in my expectations. 

 

So then we went for a quick hack around the small lake just to let them cool off/relax. We were all good and nice and relaxed and chill when we rounded the bend to the little dam between the parking lot and the gray barn path. And then the big blue heron burst out of the corner there with a whoosh of wings! Funny spun and thought about bolting but didn't. Of coure that meant Marvin spun and thought about bolting. And then the heron started screaching at us. This horrible guttural screech that sounded like a pterydactyl. Or what I imagine a pterydactyl would sound like. And that spooked Funny again so she spun a few more times, bounced into Marvin... he was spinning and bounced into us. Both of us had such a tenuous hold on them that if either of them had bolted, the other one of us would have been toast too! Luckily we managed to get them stopped and then they took a breath. Funny settled pretty quickly. Marvin (Or maybe more Kelli!) needed another minute. And then we went to go home. Funny was not so sure about going across that spot, so Kelli had gotten off and walked it. Once she started Funny got brave and barged ahead. Ha ha... Lead mare always. 

 

So yeah... a really fun and exciting day!! For multiple reasons. :) But we have super ponies!!!