Powerhouse!

 Funny got her teeth done this morning. She was a good girl and there wasn't anything major. I let them all recover and then later, we went for a ride. I even asked Diane, and she said it was fine. :) I took Dan to Ashland so the girls got ridden at home. 

 

Funny was a good girl. She was a bit more powerful today! A hair quicker but it didn't feel as quick and unbalanced as it used too.. it felt more powerful today. Still too quick, but much more balanced. And she did listen and slow her roll a bit. We had a short but good ride. We played with the serpentine again and then played with the western dressage test. Her leg yields to the right were bad... she was inverting and bracing and twisting her head. I'm not sure what I was doing to make that happen/allow it, but.. the left ones were lovely. And we got some good ones to the right too. We did a fair amount of cantering today and the canter was lovely! We also worked on our walk. 

 

It was a good fun ride. She got a nice rinse after because gracious it's hot. At least we had a nice breeze and some pretty clouds. 

 

Fun Hack

Oh how a hack in the woods is good for the spirit. I was in a rotten mood this morning. But a lovely ride got me back to my happy place! 

 

Funny and I headed to Ashland and met Kelli and marvin for a hack. We did a nice long walk around the lake and took the longer paths. Funny did some snacking with her hacking. And we saw a cute little black snake. 

 

After that, I left Kelli at the top of the XC field and did a loop of trotting and cantering. Ahhhhh... we needed that. Both of us. We went around the lake and to the gallop track and back. As we were coming back to the lake from the back side and turned the corner, the blue heron took off. Funny hit the brakes and spun hard. She almost got me off but luckily she stopped herself and kept her head up and I stayed on! I think she likes me! Ha ha. She didn't take advantage and try to dump me. And it even felt like she tried to help me stay on. Good girl. Once I got back settled, she settled back into a nice walk. We had a good time and no more close encounters.  Ahhhhh. so much fun and it put me in a much better mood! Thank you FuFu!

 

Growing up!!

 Oh my goodness! What a great day!

 

Funny and I showed at High Points Combined Test today. We showed in the Novice CT and then did a Training 3 test. I didn't get there quite as early as I had wanted but it worked out pretty well for our warm up. She was really quite good and she settled quickly. She wasn't rushed and her balance felt so much better. However she was a bit stiff and distracted. I did all the things Liz had taught me and she got much better in the warm up. We leg yielded and did serpentines and circles and spiraled and even did our T-3 test manuevers to warm up. And then it was our turn. I was able to ride a little bit in the top third of the arena which I think helped a lot. So we did our test. And she was sooooo good! She was soft and quiet and slow(ish) and more balanced. The only thing we lacked was a more steady connection and she was a little distracted and was looking around. But I was so proud. And our stretchy work was great. Her walk was even lovely.. not lateral! YAY! We ended up scoring a 31.3!!! Our best score yet! AND.. she got a TEN ON HER STRETCHY TROT!!! Whoo hooo!! 

We had a little break before our next test so we watched a few of our friends and she snacked on the clover. She was pretty chill and relaxed! Then we got tacked up to jump. We warmed up in the dressage arena again and she got a little fired up with the cantering. I did get two changes on command across the diagonal as we were warming up. :) Probably not dressage changes, but still. They didn't have any warm up jumps, so once they got the jumps set up for me, they let me in and I got to jump the two jumps on course that were the designated warm up jumps. She jumped them both nicely, so .... we just decided we were fine to do our course. And she was great! Quick, but very good. Except we took out a stride in the last line coming home and instead of balancing her, I sort of sent her and she took down the rail. Cindy was the jump judge and told me that my hands were too high. DANGIT! I forgot about that. It's been too long since I have had a lesson. Oh well. I was proud of her! Jessica told me that she was a better jumper than Dan. I know! But... shhhh, don't be talking smack about Dan! Ha! So we ended up winning our division, as we were the only ones in it ;) But I did get my ribbon, "So we could go home, because if you're not first you're last!" ha ha. I texted Mike our ribbon photo and my ETA when we headed home and he replied "I see blue, good, you can come home"! Ha ha... 

So then I had more time than I thought before our final test, but I also figured she might be riled up after jumping. I was sort of thinking it would help me out, but in retrospect, it didn't. She was amped and then she was expecting XC. BUT... she did settle better than I expected in warm up. Much better. And Liz and Grace showed up! YAY!!! She helped me a bit and then we headed down to the arena. Unfortunately I couldn't warm up because it was full sized and I didn't realize that the girl before me hadn't even started her test. So we just stood there and chilled. Which... didn't work in my favor. Once we went in, she was fired up and threatening to canter and getting all tense and balled up. I tried to do all the things. She was spooking at the rails on the side of the arena too. I managed to get her somewhat settled but certainly no where near where I wanted her. Sadly the judge rang the bell and we had to start. Ugh. Oh well. I tried to make the best of it. And, it wasn't as bad as it could have been. There were moments that were naughty but they were only moments. She tried hard! She came back to me a few times and settled much quicker after each tense/tight/rowdy moment. And we had some nice work too. Our stretchy trot was not nearly as good this time. I let her out too quick and then brought her back too late. But we still scored an 8. I was disappointed, because... I wanted to show off how nicely we had gotten our serpentines in our lesson and warm up. Just.. because she's nice. And she deserves to have people know she's nice. But Liz reminded me that there was still a lot to be proud of. And that she had womaned up because she was struggling with those things yet she tried and did well. And she's not wrong! I just got greedy. And got focused more on the score and performance instead of the progress. Liz videoed and we watched it together and it actually was a pretty decent test afterall. And, turns out... we ended up with a 65% which put us 2nd of 4. Well... that's not shabby at all. :) 

She hung out patiently and then we loaded up to go home. Poor girl still won't drink out of the buckets. Maybe I need to try a bigger bucket. She did drink a good bit when we got home. Oh, and she was so sweet when a friend came up to see her. She was snuggling with her. And then when I came back from walking away for something, she nickered at me. Awwww, I love you too baby girl. Although, she was making faces in warm up when it got too busy, just like Dan. Ha ha. Well, not just like Dan. She wasn't as nearly as bad as him. No shenanigans, just... snarky faces at some of the horses. Hee hee. 

 

I'm so proud of her. She's really acting so grown up. She gets the job. She's trying. She's doing well. And we're having fun!!! But I think she was tired! When I went to grab Dan for a ride about 1 hr after we got home, she was standing in the shade under the tree just resting. Sleep well tonight baby girl!

Much Improved!

 Today was our Liz lesson. Yay!! It's been too long. I've forgotten some things and it's so much easier when Liz is there to remind me. 

Funny was a bit feisty and naughty today too. We started out okay but then as the rides went on, she got more animated. But we worked through it and came out better. 

We started off walking around and I was telling Liz our struggles with the test. She wanted me to trot through it for our warm up so she could visualize it. Which, was a good plan, but I rode awful because I was just riding the pattern vs riding my horse. So our warm up was way too fast, way too hollow, and just.. not great. So then we had to sit there for a minute and fix the trot. I had to make sure my feet weren't behind me (which I think is possibly because I'm moving my saddle slightly farther back and it's now sitting a little downhill, which is pushing me a bit forward with my feet out behind me), my sternum and pelvis were rotated up and forward, my hands were wide, and my chin was up and pointed slightly outside (which is actually straight) and that I wasn't trying to catch up to Funny. And it works. It works so well. I almost have to get "behind the motion" again, but it's the only way that keeps me from actually  being ahead of the motion. 

So once we got a somewhat decent trot we tried our serpentine. Sooo bad! Ha! Liz gave me some big pointers and we ended up with some amazingly lovely serpentines! Mostly.. just better preparation. But going into the corners, if I almost counterflex for one step, then it straightens her and then I can ride her into my corners and ask for bend. And I do need to ask for bend. Then ride her through the turn in the corner and ask for bend. Then once I come out step to the new outside and ask for the other bend. Once I get the other bend, then go straight for a step or two, step to the new outside and ask for the original bend again. Then counterflex slightly before we go into the corner, and then step outside and inside bend and just flow through the corner. It wasn't pretty a good chunk of the time but there were a few passes that were sooo lovely! I had to keep it slow. Slow it down tracking right and slow it down even more tracking left. That's how she balances! And watching video.. it's not too slow or too small! Yay! We did it both directions with some breaks. 

Then we went to canter. And Funny knew it was time and got all nutted up. And at one point she kicked out at my inside (left) leg. Liz pointed out that it was because I trapper her. I have to remember to give her an out somewhere. Soften that inside rein... Open the inside rein. Give her space because otherwise, she'll kick out and get mad. Ahhhh... that makes a lot of sense. And it's usually the left hind kicking out I think, but I think that's because it's usually her falling onto my left leg, so I end up crossing my left hand, squeezing hard with my left leg, blocking the right shoulder and then holding the outside rein and she has nowhere to go! So.. noted! So we managed to get a nice walk. But instead of panicking and resorting to the above... I have to go to my happy place. Build it, and she will come. Slow my post... sit behind the motion, make sure my head is straight and slightly outside, lift my inside shoulder, keep my hands wide... and then she takes a breath and slows and settles. Ahhhh.. Just give it time Holly. Don't fight her! You'll lose. ;) And if she really starts throwing her barrel at my left leg... resist the urge.. and instead spiral her in. Almost think shoulder in, haunches in, and halfpass in. That makes her have to step up and onto her right front and squares her up. And when she's square, she can then go straight, and when she can go straight, she can slow down and balance. 

So we took the time to get a good walk, then we got a good trot, and then we fixed our fast trot, and went back to the good trot, and then we did our serpentines. They unraveled a little bit but I managed to get them back mostly. Then we cantered. Liz told me in the test... don't stress so much about the canter depart as much as the trot before the canter. Aim for picking up the canter right at C and A (vs in the corner) because that gives me a better chance of getting in while we're bending to the inside and it gives me time to get her soft and breathing before I ask. And if she's not soft and breathing, don't ask. So we managed to get some good transitions into the canter and then the canter was better to start. And she corrects nicely in the circles, so... if I can maintain the energy and not let it escape out in front of me, by holding it with my chest and core and position, then it's better. We did the right lead first and worked on our downwards not on the diagonal. I can do those fairly decently. But when we went the other way... we had to start all over again with the calming because she got all worked up and angsty and naughty. Even Liz admitted she was being naughty. So at one point, she told me to take a firm contact and make her carry herself within it. And... she did. She settled and while it was still too powerful and big of a trot, she balanced better in it and softened. So then we decided that it was just pushing her buttons and we would just get a nice trot and then canter vs doing the whole serpentine. So we got a nice canter and the first time we came across the diagonal.. I rode it so nicely in the turns and then kept it in the corner, and then I just didn't let it get slightly bigger for a step or two coming out of the turn and she broke super early. I rolled with it and we got a nice trot after and carried on. The second time we got a nice trot and then a nice canter and I allowed her to get a hair bigger coming out of the turn and then sat up, "dribbled" a bit, and lifted my hands a bit and closed my thighs and we got a nice downward. Yay! And the trot was lovely. So Liz told me to immediately go into a stretchy trot and then walk and reward her. She said that when she does something really good, reward her with a proper stretchy trot and then get the walk and halt to process. That will help teach her that the stretchy trot feels good and is a good reward too. Yay!!

So... while she is still Funny... she was super lovely today too. Especially compared to what we had at Ashland the other day. She got super soft and floaty and even seeking contact and just flowed through that test. Or at least bits and pieces. I'm not sure if it'll be better to do it all at once because she won't get mad by the starting and stopping, or if it'll just escalate very quickly and not come down. hee hee. But I'm so proud of her. She gave me some really lovely work today. And Liz said that this test was kind of perfect timing because it was exposing our holes and letting us know what to focus on but... it also was very helpful work focusing on those things. And while most people choose a test that they can nail... ha! Then there's me... overachieving. But I'm not going to win.. I'm just going to get some practice and play with things and see if we can get used to performing again under pressure. So.. we'll see. :) 

I ended up giving her a quick rinse but then she immediately rolled. Of course! So later, after all my lessons and after I got my flat horse trailer tire fixed... I gave her a bath. And then, decided I might as well shockwave her stifles as I've been thinking about doing it and I was getting the machine out for the other two... so I shockwaved both stifles. I did rinse the goop off, I thought, but we'll see what she looks like in the morning. My novice a test is at 10 am, then I jump at 12. And then we do T-3 at 1:11. So hopefully she'll be a bit more tired and less rowdy for the T-3 test. :) 

Ashland Ride

It was a bit chilly today and thus my pony was a bit rowdy! Ha... Maybe I can't use the weather as an excuse. She's always a bit rowdy. 

 

We did a little hack to warm up. She was quite spooky and jumping at every little thing. But at least her "spook" is minimal. 

 

We headed to the arena to do some work and it wasn't my best riding. I was irritated because of some bank fraud I was having to deal with and then clients wouldn't leave me alone... my phone kept beeping at me. Sigh.. I was cranky. I'm sorry pony... Not my best work. We did manage to get some nice work at the end and ran through the Training 3 test. But dang... I wanted to ride more but my attitude and time constraints made me decide to just take a cool down hack and call it a day. 

more dressage at home

Today we dressaged at home. I was at UGA for most of the day shockwaving about a gabillion ponies. Ha. Not really a gabillion, but.. a bunch. So I opted to just ride at home.

 

While grooming her I noticed a sore spot over her left lumbar. hmm... maybe she needs some shockwave! Or at least an adjustment!

 

We had a decent ride, but I was falling into my old habits. I didn't stop and let her process like I should have. I got in to too much of a hurry mindset. Our walk got tense and lateral again.. probably because I was in a hurry. But we had some good moments and the canter is coming along.