Super!

 So... Funny might have been the "best" ride today. Although, maybe "best" isn't the right word... the least depressing is probably more accurate. Doh! Dan and I had fun but he's still lame and that makes me sad. Lyric was good but it wasn't a great ride and she lost her hind end a lot, so... the fact that Funny was pretty decent and not feral and not lame, means... she wins today ;) Ha ha

 

I rode her at home last because I was running out of time and tired. I put her ryder saddle back on but decided to try it with the rear shims. Because of the whole "chatter" issue. Even though Kristyn hopefully fixed it... she was so fussy the other day I thought I might try the half pad. She did seem better although it's hard to say if it was because it was better fitting or because she was just in a better mood today. ??? So hard to tell. 

 

We walked up to the arena because I wanted to straddle the pole. And she nailed it too! Dang... my ponies are good at tricks. So I hopped on and we went to work. She was a bit more upright today but her tempo was good and decent. We started out quiet and slower but... very stiff. I realized I was just letting her beebop around and not holding her accountable so I started to insist on bend and lifting her barrel and... she obliged. She was fussier of course, but not too bad. We got some really decent trot work although she wasn't "on the bit". But she felt good. Then we did some cantering and played with transitions. I was trying to see if we could get the correct lead on the straight line vs on a circle. The right lead is easy. The left lead is hard but when I asked correctly, she got it. We went back to the trot and she got a little fast again but... not too terrible. And we got some nicer work over her back, although she got a little bit behind the vertical some too. But overall, a pretty good ride. 

  

We finished with a beautiful trot both ways and a lovely downward to the walk. Good pony! She only got balky once or twice, which is way better than the last ride, so... maybe I'll keep playing with the half pad while I wait to see what Tasida and Kristyn say. (I still need to send video after the saddle was adjusted... just didn't have anyone to video today). 

Lunge Day

Today was meh. I was getting a migraine and running out of time, and didn't want to drill dressage again. So... we lunged. I figured it probably wasn't a bad idea at all. 

 

We started off with a tiny bit of pillar work and then did turn on the forehand and turn on the haunches. Then we sidepassed over the rail. I forgot to have her straddle it. Whoops. So then we lunged. She was quite good at the trot. Nice and soft with a good rhythm. Lifted in her back, soft in her neck. Not too deep. Not on the forehand. Quite balanced. So then we cantered. The right lead was fine. The left lead was a hot mess! She got the zoomies and went rip roaring around.... and was leaning like she was hitting the barrel circuit! Even on a tight circle she wouldn't "stand up". I finally got a decent canter. Gracious child!! Then we got some more nice trot.. and even a nice walk. And we quit.

 

Dressaging at home

We rode at home today. I put the Ryder on... after Kristyn reflocked it. And... she was kind of naughty! She started out okay but almost felt sticky and behind my leg. Which is not her usual naughtiness. Of course she settled into her usual "too quick" and fussy routine, but... it was odd. And she did squeal some and throw in some bucks. So.... I don't know if it was just her being extra naughty today.... she's not in raging heat, but...  Is it the saddle? Does she not like the reflock? I don't know. We did manage to get some nice work done but overall I would say she's crankier. But at least her tempo wasn't as fast. 

Rest Day Rainy Day

I debated which horse to take today... even as I was walking out to catch them. I sort of thought I'd pick whichever mare let me catch her, but... then I decided I wanted to bring Funny. She's been working hard and I was feeling lazy and figured a nice hack in the woods would be perfect. They were dragging the arena's for rain prep so I couldn't even be tempted to do any work. So... that's what I did. Luckily, she didn't run from me. Lyric didn't either to be fair. ;) 

 

So we headed over. As I pulled in to Ashland it drizzled for about five minutes but then it quit, so yay! I brushed her and threw the bareback pad on and we headed out. I didn't want to take the time to switch her bit from her show bridle, so I put on her schooling bridle which still had the rubber d ring attached. And... she was chompy so I'm thinking maybe she doesn't really like it. She eventually quit chomping but... she chomped a fair amount, even on the buckle, so... we'll try the metal bit again next ride. She was a bit quick and animated when we started out and I contemplated whether bareback was a good idea. She's been so spooky that one good squirt sideways might slide me right off. BUT, she was super good and didn't spook but once. (more on that later). We had a nice enjoyable hack... just cruising around. I aimed for hills. We did a tiny bit of trotting but she's so quick and big strided that I didn't want to bounce off! We crossed the baby creek and she had to think about it for a minute but then flat footed it. About that time there was some slight thunder rumbles so I started thinking we might ought to head for home. Unfortunately I was about as far back as I could get, so there wasn't necessarily an easy beeline home. We still had to go parallel before we could go perpendicular back home. But we just marched on. We crossed the dam and it was starting to look darker. I was thinking since we were bareback, she could actually roll in the lake, but... now that it was threatening to rain... I wasn't sure we had time for that.  Plus it wasn't that hot anymore. But we did walk down to the water just in case. I had to sort of convince her to put her feet in and then she splashed with her nose for about 2 seconds and was done. Okay... well, I tried. 

 

We turned away and as we were walking in the woods, the thunder really started. There was a good big boom and Funny spooked at it! Luckily she just tucked her tail and bolted forward a few steps. Then realized she was being silly and went back to her steady march. Hee hee... The next few thunders didn't phase her. Smart girl! Then it started raining. It wasn't too bad in the woods but when we got out in the open, it was raining pretty steadily. At least it waited til the end of our ride. We got back and I untacked her and... opted to not bother with a rinse. She had gotten sweaty but not terribly and now she was wet from the rain, so... she got a rain bath. ;) 

 

It was a good ride. I felt like we both needed a break from the training. It was a nice breather. And we still got some fitness in with the hills. And I had some contact for a good chunk of the ride... albeit a very soft contact, but still. I'm glad we went!

  

Feral and Fancy

Today was lesson day but we had to move them to the morning. Unfortunately I had already scheduled the saddle fitter for the morning (because of afternoon lessons) so... I could only fit one in. But I'm so glad we were able to do it. 

I opted to ride Funny and do a flat lesson in case we can also still lesson on Thursday and I can jump Lyric Thursday. So we got tacked up and headed to the arena. To my delight, Mackenzie had tagged along so we spent a few minutes talking. After a few minutes Dan and Lyric decided they were bored and started bucking and rearing and levitating and galloping. Funny was chill for a few minutes but they kept carrying on so she finally got amped up too and did some shenanigans of her own. I just rode her through it and Mack was laughing at me like "just another day". She said I was so nonchalant. Ha ha.. I mean.... it's kind of a common occurence. ;) And besides... she's one to talk.. I've seen some of Syn's antics!! 

Finally the ponies got settled and resorted to climbing in and out of the water trough (empty) and Funny chilled. We also decided it was time to go to work, which distracted her and put her to work. It was a good continuation of our dressage warm up lesson at the show. We started off with trot work and she had to stay "smaller" and not in charge. I used my seat and thighs and patterns to get her to do a more true working trot vs  her usual more extended trot. And it worked! She was much more ameniable and even gave me some really nice work. She was lifting her back and using her core and even reaching a bit for the bit. Much less fussy in the bridle too. (She's back in the fager because she ate through the nathe and then I tried the big rubber one I bought but felt like maybe she didn't like it as much so I put the metal one back in for the show and... I didn't have time to swap them out today so I just kept it on). We played a bit with shoulder in too and she was pretty darn good! 

Then Jacel told me to canter and said "I have a thought but we'll see how it goes" ha ha. She had me canter.. then do a 15 meter circle... then lengthen the canter...then collect again. And.. it actually worked!!! Although she did warn me to not ASK for the lengthen.. just allow a small lengthen.  Ha ha... Wise words! But it was pretty cool how responsive to my seat she is. :) So then we sat and chatted for a few because... baby girl worked hard and her butt was likely sore. She was doing leg day at the gym! And then we got carried away with chatting so finally, we had to canter the other way. And... Funny was so chill Mackenzie was like "she's gotten all her sass out". Ummm. No!! Definitely not. Ha ha.. I picked up the reins and almost immediately Funny was like "NOPE.. I am DONE!". And did her stop/prop/buck/rear nonsense... threw in a few squeals... but finally we got her cooperative-ish and finished with a nice canter and did the lengthens and shortens and she was lovely! That canter is soooo freakin' nice! And I told Jacel... despite the antics and the sass, overall, she really is getting quite obedient. Really!! When I asked (politely and within reason) she responded with the correct answer without sass almost immediately. After a few strides when it got hard, the sass showed up, but initially her response was obedient! And she's come such a long way in such a short time. I have to keep reminding myself that she is making progress, even though she still seems to be "behind" in ways... And I'm also getting to where I've "picked my path" as far as her connection in the bit. I'm just... going to do it my way... and not worry that she's not "through or connected or on the bit". 

Overall, the whole ride had some really nice work! She felt so uphill and balanced and soft and carrying me and I didn't have to fight with her face. She was still a bit fussy and still probably not "in the bridle" like most would want but... it's how I want her to be! She's starting to reach for the bit and she's using her body correctly and she's happier and I'm happier and it's easier for me and we're not fighting, so... YES PLEASE!! 

Mackenzie even got some video!! :) 

Later the saddle fitter came and we checked the ryder on her. She said she liked the fit and just wanted to tweak some flocking. She didn't think it rocked on her too bad and the little tiny bit was likely due to the flocking being a bit hard and balled up in the back. So she's all readjusted and hopefully she'll be even more happy with it next ride. :)

I'm a pro momma.... trust me!

 So miss Funbuns showed up today and proved herself quite the professional! 

We had signed up for the Ashland Show and moved up to Novice. Originally because the dressage was going to be abyssmal no matter what and I didn't think the novice test was any harder, she was jumping training level stuff with ease, it's Ashland so it's home base and tends to be easier within the level than at other places (like Chatt or stableview) and... honestly, ha ha... I didn't want to compete against Karen with her low 20's dressage tests. Hee hee. Not really the last one, but it was a nice bonus! But then I looked at the novice test and... uh... it's a bit more intense than I thought! But... it might be good for her to have to focus more and do "more things". She's kind of an overachiever anyways. And, it was a good choice.

  

I gave her some magnesium this morning and gave her a bath. Then once we got to Ashland I put the bemer on level 1 (parasympathetic engagment) and did her back and poll. And she was so chill sitting at the trailer chomping hay. I was originally thinking we would go in the back forty and warm up and avoid the chaos of warm up but I didn't quite give myself enough time. So once I got on I thought that we could hack around the little lake as a warm up. So we started over that way and Funny stopped and was like "no mom.... the show ring is that way". Um... okay... Miss professional! But you have to behave like a show horse then. She may or may not have rolled her eyes at me. But we marched over to the warm up, which luckily was really quiet! And we had the lower arena to warm up in vs the grass area. It was just me, Karen, and some guy on a feral thoroughbred. (way more feral than Funny if that tells you anything!). And maybe one other normal horse that left to go into the arena pretty quickly. We were just walking and Jacel showed up so we walked and talked a bit and she was actually quite chill, even on a shorter rein. Then we picked up the trot and it got quick and rushy. So Jacel had us do ten meter circles, ten meter figure 8's, and had me focus on riding her shoulders in and her haunches out. Ooohhhh, that made a big difference. Funny was really throwing my body around so that I was ending up with my inside shoulder very far forward both directions. So.. instead of her "guiding me", I had to guide her. NOT with my hands... with my body! And it freakin' worked! Mostly. We had some better moments but it was still quick and runny, so then I had to find a way to get her slow her roll without 10 meter circles. So... we tried shoulder in and we tried squeezing with my thighs on the sit. Then I even tried sitting the trot. And... it all worked... we even got some really nice sitting trot shoulder in work... like... 2nd level maybe work! She was much more collected and balanced. Wheee!!! Okay, so... no reason I can't sit the trot in the test. We did a few canters and did 15 meter circles and then worked on leg yielding slightly into the downward and then shoulder in immediately. Then we took a breather and then went back to the trot. It got quick again so we went back to the sitting trot and shoulder in and she settled nicely! Wheee

It was our turn next so we headed up and watched Karen's nice test! Ooof, that's gonna be hard to beat. Granted, she was in BN, but ... a hard test to follow. But... holy cow! We had such a nice test!!! I was soooo proud of her! She went in fairly straight and balanced.... she did all the things... she was actually quite ridable and only mildly fussy in the bridle. She wasn't really through or on the bit but she was much less erratic and inverted than before. And she didn't jig in her medium walk or free walk. I was shocked really! Even the judge, who has judged us before, commented "wow, she's growing up!". Yay! We ended up scoring a 33.1 (I think!)!!! Yeah girl!!! Granted, we were 3rd of 4, but still! And she got a 9 on her stretchy trot! It was a damn good stretchy trot! :) 

 

She got untacked, rinsed off, and then hung out at the trailer eating hay quietly and calmly while I went up to walk stadium. Then we got tacked back up and headed up to stadium. As we were heading towards the arena a big black snake slithered past up ahead of us and Funny stopped and stared! She was scared but she was brave and I got her past him when he slithered off to the side.  Good girl! Jacel wasn't able to make it up to coach us because of her other students ride times, so we just did a little trot and then trotted the crossrail and vertical. She was nice. Then we cantered the vertical and oxer and she was super! Then the other riders showed up and they raised the jumps so we jumped the oxer and vertical again and... she felt good and wasn't escalating so... we quit with that! We headed to the arena and we were the first to go in our division. So we headed in. And she was good! She was calmer and more ridable than usual. Although she was a bit distracted by the "crowds" and was looking out of the arena as we approaced fence 4, the gate. I think that I may have also half halted too much, because she chipped and we had a rail. Doh! And then as we came around to five, an oxer, she spooked and bucked at the photographer and squirted sideways. I pulled her back onto the line and she cleared the oxer, but took it at an angle. Which... was kind of cool because I knew that's what was gonna happen but also knew she'd be fine to jump it without much "warning" and prep. The rest of the course was fine except the last two oxers she took giant flyers too! Ha ha. Whoops! I got left behind over one of them horrendously. Sorry girl! I did get too high in my hands too, but it wasn't as bad and wasn't the whole time. So... bummer about the rail, but... overall, quite pleased with her. 

   

Then we hacked down to cross country and chatted with Caroline briefly. I opted to not wait on Jacel, because I wasn't sure she could make it anyways, and... there wasn't anyone else down there so I figured she might be less resistant to leaving the startbox if there wasn't a bunch of horses at the start box. (Last time she was very "drunk" leaving the start box at first because she was herd bound). So we headed out! She was pretty super. We had some tight spots because I think she was more ridable than I was used to and I might not have been quite as giving with my elbows as I should have been. I remembered to stay light in my seat though and I definitely softened the stride out, but I may have held a tiny bit too much before hand. Although maybe not because she wasn't fussy or running. We were doing well and she was a little squirrely to the two in the woods that I thought she might be. They were from light to shade and then a tight approach but she jumped them fine. Then we came around and did the brush and then as we were cantering towards the rolltop Caroline yelled "You forgot the ditch Holly". OOOPS!! Darn it! (Technically she wasn't allowed to tell me but... it's a schooling show... ). So I turned around and took her to the bank which had the banana jump on a bendy line after. She was a little scrambly because I got scrambly and we took a flyer at the bank. Eeeeeks, not the safest move. And she bucked a little and unseated me enough that I lost my right stirrup. We coudn't quite get it together for the B element so we had a run out. So we circled around and did the bank up again (much more of a normal distance this time) and jumped the banana and then carried on. We jumped the rest of the course nicely and with ease and she was quite ridable. Maybe even a little tired by the end?? Oh, and she cantered into the water too without coming to a trot! She hesitated a tiny bit but only backed off a hair and didn't squirt sideways! Yay! I couldn't remember if I had jumped the next jump after the bank before I circled so I didn't know if were eliminated or not. But Caroline was nice and didn't eliminate me and I apparently didn't jump the next fence... she caught me and told me otherwise before. :) So... we ended up 3rd of 4... because the first place guy fell off after the water when his horse jumped BIG and then bucked. So... not the best results on paper and I'm irritated at myself for causing the rail and the run out and forgetting my course, but.... I'm so proud of her!! And honestly... it's still better than our last two outings with two runouts. So yahooo!!

 

Good girl Funny!! Good Girl!!!