New Bit, Fancy Funs

 Today Funny got a bit fitting by Kelli. She checked her bridle and said it would suffice. We could tweak things to make it better, but this one fit well enough and didn't seem to have any major glaring issues. She put her in the Oscar baby fulmer to start and we headed up to the arena. 

 

We warmed up at the walk and Funny already felt good in this bit. It seemed like she was more willing to take a connection and it was even in both reins. And she was chompy but quieter. She seemed more willing to reach down and use her topline too. So then we went to the trot. And it started out the same, then it got a little rowdy, and then we settled nicely. She really was quite good today. She still wants to lean in and she still wants to go fast and she still wants to blow out a shoulder or fishtail in certain spots. BUT... admist all that, she felt more balanced, more willing to reach and keep the contact, and more even in both reins. I tried to do my homework and pretend like I was holding the polo wrap. I'll definitely use it the next few rides, but didn't want to try to deal with it while doing bridle fittings too. I really like this bit for her. And I think she liked it too. She kept chomping but it seemed quieter and less frantic. We had a good canter both ways too and she picked up the left lead first try. I did almost counterflex it to make sure I kept the outside rein but it worked. And then our trot got a little rowdy again too but we got it settled. 

 

Overall I'm really pleased with our ride today! She had a few strides of super fancy and sit and push vs just running and we're both getting better and quieting things down and clarifying. When I can use my core, she's even better. 

 

After I was done Kelli was giving me some suggestions about how my pelvis wants to tip one way, I collapse my right side, and I'm almost asking her to bend right instead of left with my body. We were trying to find a way to get me to open my right rib cage without just lifting my shoulder to my ear (which, ha, does nothing for my rib cage and instead just distorts my elbow and head). so I was trying to get Funny to stand still so that I could do different things and have Kelli tell me if I was accomplishing it. Like... raising my right shoulder didn't help because I just lifted my shoulder to my ear... so okay, maybe if I lengthen my left leg, that will straighten me... which seemed to work but Funny would NOT STAND STILL! Argh.. come on girl... We had a little bit of a battle about it... and finally she briefly stood still so.. then I decided we were done and I would just have to figure it out off the horse. But basically I need to lift my right shoulder/upper body to open my right rib cage, pull my right hip back and bring my left hip forward (which seems like my left hip is just stuck and doesn't move any direction) and then turn my sternum to the right/inside. I did accomplish it but felt incredibly crooked... like way overbent in my head and neck. But... I think I have to over do it to correct it. And I'm sure it's not as crooked as it feels. 

 

After we left the arena I let her trot the XC fence (the small one) as a reward. She landed in a nice polite canter! Good pony! I'll have to play with this bit with jumping too! After I turned her out she went to investigate Marvin in the round pen. She took a drink of water and then as soon as she turned away from it, she pinned her ears and ran at him. Then proceeded to pin her ears as she sort of chased him around the roundpen from the outside. Ha ha.. She's such a bossy butt!! Then she proceeded to rub her butt on the boards. Doh! 

So... we're gonna order her that bit and hopefully it'll arrive soon! Here's to scores in the lower 30's instead of upper 30s' and 40s for 2025!! :) 

Organizing the Chaos

 Today was lesson day and it was great! We got so lucky! The weather prediction was pretty icky. It was supposed to storm all night and into late morning... like thunderstorms, possible tornados, and high winds. Yuck! Caroline had put all of us lessoning in the covered because the arena's were closed because of the rain, but still.. That meant I'd have to load, haul, and tack up in the weather and then enjoy the covered. So I was praying that the storm would happen overnight, not be that bad, and clear by the time I had to leave. And it did!!! It stormed from about 4 am to 8 am. Then it was cloudy and windy but not too bad when I fed. 

 

Funny loaded up and I left her blanket on as it was still a bit chilly. She was warm when we got to Ashland and I had enough time that I parked at the showgrounds so we could have a nice warm up hack. Especially because I knew we would have to book it home to get back in time for lesson #2 with Lyric. I tacked up and we took the long way... we went around the blue heron lake/little lake and it's actually a really nice warm up walk. There's a good bit of hills!

 

We got to one of the Ashland pastures and they had flipped the water tubs over as they were resting that field. Right as Funny saw them, she slipped a little bit in the wet and so...she took offense! I thought for a split second that I wasn't going to be able to get her past them! Silly girl! But we managed. She was feisty and amped up today! We walked around the mini jump course and walked the three cavalettis as we waited for Caroline to finish. I trotted them once but it was so squishy and I was leaving hoof prints so we quit. 

 

When it was our turn I told Kelly that we had been doing our homework and it was getting better but that we were still struggling with the canter getting her all amped up and giving her "canter brain". So, she said let's work on it. And then we sort of got sidetracked. ha! We trotted a few serpentines to warm up and then we cantered about 2 circles each direction. The left lead was hard again and it took us a few tries to get it. Kelly mentioned that I was giving my right/outside hand too far forward, so... think of holding a better connection with it. That didn't work so then she told me to think of almost counterbending her... and that did the trick. It just solved her "right shoulder-itis" and got that right shoulder back underneath her and kept me from throwing the right/outside rein away. We also talked about how I really need to keep it clear with my aids and that the outside leg was the canter aid. Noted... noted. 

So then we went back to the trot and almost immediately Kelly stopped me and told me she was going to get fun training tools! Uh oh!! I had a moment of panic because I thought she might try to put us in a german martingale or side reins or something and... Funny likes to rear! But, I should have known better... it was the polo wrap trick. And it was fabulous! We put a polo wrap at the girth and then looped it up to my hands. We did tie it in a knot because Funny being Funny... if I needed to drop it due to shenanigans, then we didn't have a loose wrap dangling from her belly. The goal was to hold it with my hands and it helped to quiet my hands, turn my focus to my leg and seat, and also work as a belly band too I suppose. And it did! I kept my hands wide on it and she had me pull up on the polo wrap. This served to keep my hands directed up, against the polo wrap, vs against Funny's mouth. And that plugged my seat bones into the saddle. Which centered me and made it harder for Funny to pull me out of the saddle and forward. And it reminded me to bend my elbows and not lock my arms. Then I had to remember to move my elbows and shoulders with the motion of her head, so I wasn't restricting her. So... lots of good things. In theory, it also helped me keep my hands even. At one point I was lifting my inside hand when I was trying to get her off my inside leg. Nope... that's not how it works. Kelly asked if I like martinis'.... Not really... how about beer.. meh... but cider beer. So, Okay... pretend like there's a cider beer balanced on the polo wrap and if you're hands aren't even, it'll tip over. I said okay, but maybe instead of cider beer, a plate or raw oysters! Because I just paid $30 for a dozen last night and I definitely don't want to spill those!! :) ha! This also quieted my hand aids by default. And because my seat was plugged in, she wasn't zooming! In fact, I even had to kick her forward some. And because my hands were occupied, I had to focus on my leg and seat aids to get her bending around my leg. So we did a little bit of shock and awe with it. I was allowed to use my leg every stride IF it was only my inside leg for bend. I was not allowed to kick every stride. If she got behind my leg, then I could kick and get her in front, but not nag. If she fell behind my leg and I had to kick more then every quarter part of the circle, then I was to whomp her a few times and then take my leg off again. I was allowed to use my inside leg every stride but if she was ignoring me or not trying... (and she only had to try... if she was doing the best she could at the moment, that was enough) then I was to whomp her with only my inside leg. BUT... bring her down to a walk to do it. Partly because then she associated inside leg with bend NOT speed, but also because it's less tempting to use my hands too and it isolates the aid a bit better to make it more clear. Ahhhh, okay! I can do that. 

So we did. We trotted circles and if I had to get more bend, we came down to the walk and whomp.. and then back up to the trot. And holy cow, it freakin' worked! I still had to move my hands inside and outside a hair to catch her shoulders, but overall, it was much less movement, much less catching her, and much smoother. AND she stopped the random slinging from falling in to falling out every time she passed the one part of the circle. All I had to do was ride inside leg to outside rein and hold my polo wrap. She got so loose and swingy and correct! It was awesome! We went both ways. 

And then we cantered, still with the polo wrap. And it was the same concept. We didn't do a ton of cantering, and then we were done. So, yeah... we sort of got side tracked, but it was worth it! 

It was a great lesson and Funny felt fantastic! We'll ride with our polo wrap for the next few rides! I joked that mine would be hot pink instead of boring white. Ha ha. But sadly, I only have white and navy. ;) 

 

Then we hacked back to the trailer, taking the direct route because of time. And it warmed up enough that she got naked time!

Good Girl

 Oh Funs! 

Today we rode at home because... oh, life... Today was a DAY! But we got to ride. We hacked up to the arena via the field and hit the hill behind the arena. Then we did a long walk warm up but focused on straight vs moving hips or shoulders. Then we trotted. And we did our cloverleaf. And we had a lovely ride! She was in the outside rein, soft, and bending correctly... with a pretty nice lift to her back. Beautiful girl!! Then we cantered. It was a lovely right lead canter... very soft, very round, very controlled. And then... we lost it. Ha! It's almost like she gets anxiety about the left lead canter and panics and over reacts before I even ask for anything. And so we picked up the wrong lead a few times, which makes her anxiety worse. Apparently, we're back to asking for the canter with the outside leg. I think... that perhaps, she's way more sensitive than I think and my aids are not refined/sutble enough for her. So I'm trying hard to be very precise and soft with my aids, but... it's hard! 

 

We finally got a decent left lead canter although it was still faster and more tense than I wanted. Then we spent the rest of the ride trying to calm back down! She just got so amped up. So then I tried to use it to my advantage and tried to do some regular trot and then a trot lengthen across the diagonal. It wasn't really a true lengthen... she's still too crooked and tense. But she did open up for a few strides and I did manage to finally get her straight. I thought that perhaps if I encouraged the "zoom", then perhaps she would be more willing to come back. Meh... not sure it really worked. But we did get to play with straightness and adjustability so.. not sure it didn't work. We did manage to get back to a really nice trot with nice bend and a nice tempo and float both directions, so we quit with that. Oh, and we played with the halts too. We headed back to the barn and I contemplated jumping one of my cross country jumps but I figured that might amp her back up again and I was on a time crunch, so... we didn't. 

 

Progress today though! We had a little bit of really lovely today and a lot of better than it has been. But I was laughing a bit. Sometimes, I really wish I could toss Kelli or someone... up there. Because... she's hard! Like... she's quick.. you can't hang on her... but you also can't let her run away with you... meanwhile she's flinging body parts every which way... going a million miles an hour in every direction but straight... ha ha. I likened it to trying to hold onto a fish! Of course, maybe someone else could ride her more effectively and not be as chaotic, so maybe I don't want someone else to hop on and prove my disability. But... sometimes... I think she's just hard. But we'll get there. We are making progress! And she was still a bit chompy today but she also had some nice foam. 

Merry Christmas!

 Merry Christmas Funny!

The ponies got candy canes this morning and then some naked time as the sun came out. I spread manure, fixed the water troughs (well, I could only fix one) and drug the arena. And Funny got the day off as I ran out of time to ride the third pony of the day. But that's okay.. she deserves a little breather! 

They were silly today.

 

 

When I was hacking Lyric back to the barn I caught this on camera. FUNNY NO!!!!! She ate her dinner just fine, so I'm hoping she spit it out!

Hack Day: Getting in the Christmas Spirit

Funny and I headed out this morning, as soon as it warmed up a little bit, and hit the trails! We were supposed to have lessons but Jacel's kid was sick so they got cancelled. I'm not going to lie... riding at 9:30 this am didn't sound fun. It was like... a windchill of 26 degrees! It was still cold when we got out there around noon, but it had warmed up to 40 so it was bearable! With appropriate clothing.

 

We had a fun ride. My plan was just to do a nice long hack.. ,no work. She's been working hard and we just wanted to enjoy ourselves. So we did! It was a bit chilly but we had fun. She was a bit jumpy. I'm giggling because I wanted the self propelled powerful thoroughbred.... and I got it! In my appaloosa/hanoverian mare. Girls' got a serious motor! We were power walking!

 

We were the only ones there and it was so quiet and calm, despite Funny seeing monsters everywhere. She was good! Just... jumpy. And when we hacked towards the school, she kept slinging her head around looking behind her. There's no monsters girl!! We did a tiny bit of trotting and then cantered after we crossed the creek. I had to laugh because as we were cantering along I thought.... I'm kind of perched, I should probably sit up a bit more in case she spooks at a deer... and no sooner than I had that thought, a deer bolted across the trail in front of us and Funny slammed on the breaks! I slid up her neck and gave her a hug, ripping out a bit of her mane in the process (whoops) and then she threw her head up (luckily) so I was able to shimmy back in place. ha ha. I did warn myself! I am grateful though that she is spooking and such but she's not trying to launch me anymore. Phew! 

 

We got in the Christmas spirit this trail ride too. Not just with Rudolph... we passed a holly tree... we saw the Christmas tree all decorated... and then we went through the swirly sea of candy canes... I mean Christmas tree forest :)  And that meant we ended up by the jump barn, so... Funny had to be brave and walk through it. I really didn't have to work that hard to convince her either. She's such a brave girl!

   

It was a fun ride! Good pony!

 

 

Fancy Pants

Well, maybe the "come to jesus" ride yesterday sunk in. Or, maybe, because I got on with the mentality that I was NOT going to get sucked in to hanging on her mouth today helped. Maybe both? But we had a pretty good ride today. She was still quick and still wanted to run. And definitely worse after we canter. BUT... it wasn't as bad as yesterday and I was able to have more say today. 

 

She did almost dump me though! We were trotting along the rail alongside the woods and something crashed in the brush and she spun 180 degrees hard and quick. I slung off to the side and lost one stirrup and levitated a split second before I was able to get my balance back. Phew that was close! But she didn't take advantage or try to continue to dump me. She's growing up! 

 

We managed to finish the ride without any incidents but when we were done and I had dropped the reins to walk to the gate, the two hawks came flying out from the trees and over us and she tucked her bum and scooted. Hee hee. 

Baby steps!