Dragon!!

 Shocker, I know. :) Ha! Let's see.. it's 44 degrees, cold, damp, and gray... she hasn't been ridden since Wednesday. She's been in a blanket for multiple days. 

 

We rode at home because with the days being shorter and the weather being so miserable, I just didn't have time to do anything else. We finished just before sunset as it was. But it was okay because she hacked on Wednesday so she hasn't had an arena only day in a bit. We tacked up and she even got a warm bit because I had it in the truck while I hauled Lyric home from Ashland. We hacked up the driveway to the arena. She was a bit squirrely about going into the arena for some reason. We walked a good bit and practiced our yielding to pressure. She's getting good at it. And she was desperately trying to find things to spook at. She finally got desperate enough and just spooked at nothing a few times up by the gate. Then she was trying to show off for Quilarte. Oh girl... 

 

We did some lateral work at the walk, trying to occupy her brain. She was actually quite good for shoulder in and haunches in! But still very distracted. So I finally just picked up the trot and got her moving her feet. And she started super nice for about.... 1 lap. Then she got squirrely and squirty and fast. So I did all the things... yield to pressure... leg yields... poles... circles... transitions... serpentines... I even resorted to cantering fairly early to let her move out. And she was trying... mostly. But she was also quite "humpy" and threw in a bunch of crow hops and was slinging body parts. She even did her prop and rear once. She kind of felt cold backed because every time I tried to sit down she got humpy. But honestly... I'm trying not to read too much into it. It is definitely dragon weather! 

 

We did manage some pretty nice work and in general, she was much more "on the bit" than a few weeks ago. She even managed to give me a few moments here and there of really nice push from behind and lift in her back and suspension. Mostly through the poles but a few strides without the poles. Yeah girl!!! 

So... not a terrible ride but definitely challenging and not our best work. She got a little quick again... she didn't want to sit and definitely didn't want me to sit. BUT... we were fairly submissive between the antics. And like I said... I got some really nice moments from her. Oh, and we finished with some pretty decent shoulder in and haunches in at the sitting trot. She sort of starts quick and then gets super nice and then gets super slow and fizzles out of it, but... I was able to keep her going the second direction. We also had one decent trot lengthen that felt like an actual attempt at lengthenging and then coming back vs just... running. Very baby and it isn't show ready yet, but... a start!

She was a bit warmer than I wanted her to be, although not really sweaty, but we decided to walk to the lake and back to help her cool off so I could reblanket her. She was good! A neighbor even stopped to ask me a few questions. He asked if Jean was my mom. Hee hee. Nope... then wanted to know what they were going to do with Green Valley. I told him I had no idea, but we chatted for about 5 mintues and Funny just stood there quietly and calmly. Good girl! 

 

Hopefully I can sneak in a ride on Monday and maybe she won't be quite as dragon-y. :) I really need to get my pivo working so I can see if she looks like she feels. She feels a bit behind the vertical but when she's there she's not bracing and I've got moments of her poll being the highest point, so.. I'm curious to see if it looks as good as it feels. Although I bet I'll be sad when I see it. But, then I can try to make it better.