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

 Fun hack.

rotten mood this am, but got better. good canter is good for the soul

met kelli and did a walk hack around the lake, but the longer path. funny snacked. saw a nice cute little black snake. 

then left kelli at the top of XC and did a loop of trotting and cantering. ahhhhh. much better. almost came off at the head of the lake though, came around the turn at a power trot and hit the corner and the ptyerdactyl swooped off and she spun hard left. luckily she didn't keep spinning and caught me and stopped and i stayed on. good girl! Much better than when she used to try to launch me. :) 

lots of fun

photos: 3-26 fun hack

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

 a bit chilly. a bit rowdy. 

hacked to warm up. spooky and jumpy.

then arena work. quicker and braced. i was irritated because of bank fraud and then no one would leave me alone.. clients, etc. not my best ride. but we managed to end on a lovely note and practiced our T-3 test. then a short hack after. would have liked to have done more, but... wanted ot get the others ridden

sorry pony!

photos: 3-26 ashland ride

more dressage at home

 sunday after shockwavapalooza

found a sore spot left lumbar

good ride but falling into old habits

photos : 3-26 bad habits

Xc schooling at pine top

 xc at pine top

photos: model, pine top schooling and on fire

dressage at home

 good ride at home. overall less quick and more balanced but maybe more braced in neck and less soft in topline. but had good moments. canters felt nice. got two lovely walk to canters. worked on our transitions being quieter. overall great ride. did some canter serpentines. leg yields. tried trot half pass. acceptable for starting out one way and not happenign the other. did some lengthenings but still not really any change except one time a slight change. worked on halts. 

good pony. 

snuggled with christy but didn't get any body work done. 

Fitness-ish Hack

 Today was COLD! So cold! And busy. We had Patrick at 7:30 this morning and it was a windchill of 24 degrees. Brrrr!!! They all got their feet done and then they got to go back out while I went inside and got feeling back to my toes and fingers. I ate a bowl of cereal and then tried to decide what I wanted to do. I was still soooo cold! But after I sat my toes in front of the space heater a bit longer I got motivated. I figured I would go ride her at Ashland because on Friday Liz was coming for a lesson and then Christy was coming for bodywork, so we can't go to Ashland then. And then on Saturday we're going XC schooling at Pine Top, so.. felt like it was a good day to go to Ashland. Plus it was cold enough that a long hack was probably better than dressage. Except by the time I got decided and warmed up enough we didn't have much time because I had a dr's appt in athens at 3:30. But we made it work.

 

We got to Ashland and I put the dressage saddle on. Dumb choice. My stirrups are too long to ride in the woods for more than a walk. They're bordering on too long in the arena, but definitely too long for the bigger trot and canter in the fields. But we made do. We did some hills and trotted a good bit. Then we had a nice canter on the gallop track. Then we went back to the cross country field and trotted into the water. I thought perhaps that since we did it a few days ago.... but nope. She slammed on the brakes and spun at the last minute. BAD Funny! Seriously... you're gonna get us a refusal for that nonsense! She danced around for a bit but finally went in and then of course she was fine to trot right in after that. Ugh. Guess we'll keep working on that! Then we did a nice pretty trot in the field and a nice pretty canter and then another nice trot. And then I had to go! 

 

But it was a nice day and we got some good work done and had fun!

Jump Day

 went to ashland to jump. whole farm to ourselves

hacked to lake - tons of turtles. then went to xc and did banks, ditches and water. water is still an issue, especially banks to water in and out today. but got it. then popped a few. stopped at triple log... darnit. i just need to ride. then jumped in stadium. trotted in between chunks. much calmer. good girl. swapping behind... pain? Stifles? ovaries? ugh...

then went back to lake and did some more trotting. scared of geese but geese were brawling. ha ha

good day!

photos: jump day

videos: geese fights

New Hacking Spot and new friend

 Went for a hack with Karen and Alf at Heritage.

good place. got lost kinda of... did the little loop twice. ha ha. whoops. fun trails, but narrow and steep but found some spots for trotting. fun bridge. funny was good with alf. made faces a few times but he was also up her butt a bit. good pony

little canter in the field at the end.

fun!

photos: heritage, cuties, and beautiful day

Pre work ride

 Okay, so... daylight savings isn't soooo bad. Although I was exhausted yesterday and ready for bed so early. I still didn't get to sleep til after 11, but.. better than midnight. I didn't have to leave for work til 10:40 am, so.. I was hoping to sneak in a ride. I got up at 7:30 and then decided to hit snooze for another 30 minutes. I got the ponies fed, ate breakfast, did some laundry and then decided I had just enough time left to ride. 

I grabbed Funny and did a speed groom and tack. I got on and we headed up to the arena. It was pretty this morning... quite warm and slightly foggy after all the rain. We did a little shoulder in at the walk and then we went to trot since time was running low. She started out quite good and overall we had a pretty decent ride. She got a little squirrely and was tossing her head a good bit, but after a little bit of an arugment, we both agreed to compromise and we got a happier connection. Tracking left is still harder, but we had some good moments. It's definitely better when my body cooperates. She got a little fussy again today and a little proppy but no bucking. (I do think that's a pre-heat thing because she's not been glaringly in heat but snuggling up close to Dan and I think I noticed her in heat today, so hopefully that's all it is). 

We cantered and the right lead canter was lovely and the left got really quite nice. Then things got a bit quicker again but I did manage some really nice trot after too. Then we played with shoulder in at the trot, and sitting trot, and she was really good! She did peter out at the end but a little bit of leg kept her going. And we tried a half pass at the walk which was decent. I forgot to try it at the trot. Oh, and we also had a most lovely upward walk to trot transition where I finally nailed the balance of asking with a whisper and not yelling at her and actually getting a response. Whoo hoo! Now to repeat that every time.

We finished with the nice shoulder in trots and then a normal lovely trot to a nice stretchy trot! Like a really nice TRUE stretchy trot... not just running on her forehand. She got bouncy!! And then we got a nice downward to the walk and a nice walk. So we quit! And then my alarm went off as we walked out of the gate. Ha! Good timing. 

 

She got untacked, treated, and then a quick rub down with the rag. Luckily she wasn't too sweaty as it was a shorter ride and still slightly cooler. I tossed her out and then went inside, changed clothes, made my coffee and was putting my shoes on when my first appointment called and cancelled. UGH!! They got stuck at work and wouldn't be home til 1, which is when my 2nd appt of the day was. Man... I could have ridden longer had you called 15 minutes ago! Or gone to Ashland had you called yesterday! But I get it... she even went to work early to make it home on time but unfortunately she got stuck there longer. Oh well. I ended up going to Hobby Lobby to get stuff to make my hellhat fancier, so that was fun. 

quick groundwork

 soggy rainy day, so did the raised and widened serpentine a few times and trotted the raised trot poles twice

quick and dirty ;) 

Psalm 19:1

 The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of His hands.

   

Today was a glorious day! Mike and I woke up early and drove to Blueridge for a train ride. It was cool. We got home around 5 pm so he told me to go play. So I did! The sky was just so beautiful with the sparkling sun, the dark clouds, the bright crisp blue sky, the big white fluffy clouds and the darker storm clouds, and then the (stinky and awful) pretty bradford pear trees. So ... I hitched up lickety split and then grabbed Funny and away we went!

 

 

We got there and tacked up as everyone else was leaving. PERFECT! The skies were a little threatening but we ended up having a glorious ride. No rain until way later tonight. I did sign up for the arena so I didn't get in trouble but we started out on the trails. We headed out to the XC field for the sunset and a little snack. Then we headed to the lake. As we got almost to the lake we must have spooked a deer because we heard a rustle and then all I saw was a flash of white over the edge of the hill down Raccoon Loop. Funny was upset and tried to spin and bolt once or twice. But I got her settled enough to get a photo of the gorgeous sunset on the lake. We missed getting her golden unicorn horn though because the sun had sank just low enough that our unicorn horn line disappeared. Once she realized there wasn't anything, we headed down Raccoon loop and crossed the bridge. Then we took sideways up the hill to the XC field. 

  

 

When we entered the cross country field the sunset had backlit the eastern sky and it was lovely! I let Funny snack some more and then we went to the water complex. I wanted to trot the water. She was hesitant to go in at first. It was really deep. But I got her in without a true refusal. Then we walked out of the up bank and when I tried to go down it she said no. So we went back in and out the up bank twice more and then we did some circles trotting. Ha ha.. Holy cow!! I thought her trot was hard to sit before, but she was so bouncy in the water! There's no way I could sit that trot. hee hee. I was giggling. Then we walked back out and when we came back down into the water, she said no at first, but then I did get her in. We did it two more times and then I gave her a snack. It's still not perfect, but it got better. 

 

Then we headed up to the arena and did some dressage. She was pretty darn good. Overall I would say she wasn't as quick or as fussy for more of the ride than my last few rides without Liz. She did get fussy and quick after we cantered but it took until we cantered. Although she was a tiny bit fussy when we went to turn left some. But, we got a great shoulder in at the walk down the long side. Both ways! Then we got a fairly acceptable half pass at the walk both ways, the right was better. Then our trot was great and our leg yields were better. We took a breather and then did some more and cantered. The right lead canter was quite nice but we never managed to get the left lead that lovely. It was acceptable though. Then we finished with a very nice trot and a nice walk. And then we were running out of daylight so we headed in.

The little tiny christmas tree with the solar lights was still there and it was finally dark enough for it to turn on. And it blinks and flashes. Funny was eyeballing it but then when it blinked she would flinch. We got closer and holy cow, she was flinching so much I thought she was having a seizure or was tying up. Ha ha! Not really, but kind of. ;) She was silly. She's so darn jumpy! But she was brave and finally stopped flinching. 

 

Good pony! We made it home and got everyone fed and inside long before the rain hit but it's now currently storming with lots of thunder and lightning and rain. I'm guessing the arena's will be closed tomorrow at Ashland. I probably should have taken Dan so I could have practiced my dressage test but I can do that Tuesday I guess. And Funny and I had fun!