hack and dressage

 hack with sharon

then dressaged. good girl. more contact today to challenge her, but.. have to be careful I don't start riding front to back. got some nice work and some soft slower trots and one decent actual lengthen in the trot. and did some trot walk trots and some sitting trots. nice canters, though fussy... but better when I was quieter with my hands vs half halting ... better just "holding" almost. 

good girl. short hack around lake to cool off

photos: 5-26 hack and dressage

Birthday girl

 phtoos: birthday girl

no ride... mike day and horrid two pill migraine

Ashland Evening

 rode after dr appt, and fender bender

lovely ride. saw a cat, would have been eaten by the mountain lion

good-ish dressage ride

nice views

Not my day!

 Today is just a frustrating day! But.. not the end of the world. And I guess only at times, because I'm feeling as bipolar as the weather today. And the weather is literally going from bright blue skies to storming monsoon to bright blue skies, back to rain, back to bright blue skies and back to storms!

 

I had my yearly physical this morning and got blood drawn, which was no big deal. My blood pressure is back to normal, so yay! Then I stopped at the bank to deposit some checks.. LOTS of checks because I'm a slacker and the freakin' ATM ate my checks... Couldn't return them.. just...ate them. Nothing but a reciept saying I needed to file a claim. UGH!!! And my dumb self entered everything into my work program but didn't pay attention to how many checks it was, how much the total was, etc. So...like I have no idea... And of course it was the UGA checks, so I know it was at least $15,000 because of shockwavapalooza! I want to cry! I'm sure they'll find them and figure it out, but.... I don't actually know that. Sigh. So then I stopped at the mammogram place and got my CD of images. Thank goodness I did because clearly they hadn't bothered to try to do it to mail them to me and my appt with the specialist is in two days. So then while I was waiting on that, I called the bank and started a claim. And then I drove back to the bank to see if they could help. I was in luck because the ATM pickup guy was there! YAY!! Thank you Jesus! Except.. nope... He found my personal account check, which had gone through literally seconds before the stack of business checks. But he did not find the business checks. How does that even happen? Like... it literally was `10 seconds later!??! I guess that means my checks are just stuck in the machine??? They told me that they would send another guy out to try to find them. Okay, but why can't THAT GUY who is ALREADY HERE just do it? Sigh... what a freakin' mess. So much for paying my shockwave off. Gahhhhh.

 

Anyways, then I was so frustrated I drove home and forgot about the grocery store so had to turn around and go get groceries. Then I got them unloaded. And it still hadn't rained. Although now, Mackenzie was teaching Jean and the interns in the arena so I couldn't ride. Which was probably best. I ended up going through to try to figure out which checks I had in the thing and sure enough, it totals up to at least $16,125 and quite possibly $17,000. But at least I have a better idea now. Then I ate lunch. And then I went to grab Dan because while it was supposed to storm, it was looking like I might make it. So I rode him first and had an okay ride. Then when I had just finished untacking him, the bottoms opened up, so back inside I went. It poured buckets!!! Like... Flooded the front porch a little downpour. Of course it hasn't rained in months and we've gotten so much rain this long holiday weekend. So... I was supposed to have a lesson with Jacel at her house at 4:30 and then was going to ride Drago for her. I looked at the radar and... it wasn't looking good. It was basically supposed to storm on and off the whole rest of the afternoon with a bad storm around 6ish. Before I texted her, Mackenzie texted me and said she had just gotten there and Jacels' phone was in the house charging but that the footing was not conducive to jumping so if I wantet to come for a flat lesson I could but we couldn't jump. Which, would have been totally fine, but... given the radar and the potential for more downpours... I decided to just cancel. It's a long haul to her place and it just was no big deal to skip a lesson after our weekend of showing to avoid getting drenched or worse!

  

But then the sun came back out a bit and it looked like I had a window before the next storm blew in, so... I went out and grabbed Funny. The skies were bright and glorious blue on one side and dark and scary on the other. But... I figured we would take a chance. I put the dressage saddle on and we hacked up the road to the arena. We did a nice walk warm up and then we picked up the trot. And then the thunder started rumbling. We managed to get mostly through our ride before the rain started spitting here and there and the skies got more omininous. It wasn't a great ride. She had some good moments, but she's still really against my left leg. Which, honestly, I think is me. I can't seem to turn my shoulders left. I'm really anxious for my chiro appointment in two weeks. I'm so crooked! And I was trying really hard to not cross her neck... and don't think I was, but... we were struggling. Other than that though... she wasn't too bad. She was quick but not as quick. We had some really nice moments. And we worked on our sitting trot and canter departs and actually had some really nice canter departs! We also practiced the trot walk trot stuff. So... not great, but not bad. I wanted to do more but the rain had started and I knew I was going to risk the storm if I kept up, so we found a good place to quit and headed home. By the time we got to the culdesac it was proper raining. I untacked and hosed her off, because she was still dirty and sweaty and it was hot and gross. Then she got turned out in the rain ;) And then the rain quit.... again. But not to worry, because it came back and rained again. And then quit again. And will probably storm again tonight. Ha ha. I guess I could have done my lesson??? Who knows!? It did apparently pour buckets at Jacel's too. And I didn't need to spend the money or the time. I was able to get some of my extra stuff sorted and cleaned up for the tack sale, so yay!.

Bestest Girl!!!!

 It's all coming together!!! I kept saying that if I can survive to get to the other side... Funny is going to be phenomenal. And she is!! And so much fun too!! She's taught me how to become a better rider, because she demands it. But in return, she is really becoming quite the fancy beast! Although.. ha! Our dressage is still a struggle bus, but it's come leaps and bounds! 

Anyways... We went to Full Gallop today to show. Jacel and the gang went up yesterday but I went to Keri's for Nathans' graduation and by the time we got home, while I *could* have gone up, it was rainy... I would have gotten there at 8 pm, and then Funny would have been in a stall overnight... and Mike would have had to feed this morning... and, quite frankly, it's time to woman up and see if we can get around a novice course without schooling it the day before. And I'm glad I didn't because apparently they got soaked yesterday schooling! Granted, I didn't even ride yesterday but oh well. The weather was not cooperative. But I am grateful we got rain, as did Aiken, because it really made the footing at Full Gallop fabulous!

So, after the graduation party I gave Funny a bath, fed them dinner, and then packed up to be all ready to roll out at 5 am today. I went to bed at 9:45, and while I didn't fall asleep immediately, I was probably asleep by 10:45/11, so.. not too bad. I got up at 4:`15 and managed to pull out at 5:10. So not too shabby! I did have to make a pit stop and pee before we got there so we got to Full Gallop at 7:15 am. My ride time was 8:18. So... decent timing as all I had to do was pee (again), grab my packet, and tack up. Yet somehow I was still feeling a little rushed. But I had enough time to warm up. 

We warmed up and she was a bit distracted by all the other things... other horses, cars, people moving jumps, the XC field, etc. She was counterbent and quick. But I managed to get her slower and in a better tempo and then Jacel showed up and helped me even more. I am still struggling with getting my shoulders turned. I really think I'm super crooked and cannot wait til my chiro appointment in two weeks! Hopefully that will help! Because I'm seriously making her crooked. But we got some nice work in and I can really feel when she starts to settle. Jacel had me ride with a hair more contact, but Funny was ready for it. I can use the reins... as long as I don't hang. And I'm not haning anymore. Yay! Mostly. 

So then it was our turn. They didn't have dressage in the sand, which was nice, as it was pretty deep in the corners and that gave us more warm up area. It was in the grass paddock behind the barns. So... quieter and off by itself but, also.. we had to move to a new location. I kept her working until we walked over and then I was able to pretty much go in and start trotting around the arena. So she didn't lose focus. Well, mostly. The four wheeler drove by and there were horses in the pastures, but..she focused pretty quickly. Our test wasn't bad. It just... wasn't great. She was a little quick... she was against my left leg, and our stretchy trot had a little bleb to it and she lost the stretch at the end. BUT.. overall, she did all the things I ask. And as well as could be expected. It's kind of where we are now. We settle into a movement but... not quick enough for a test. So each movement is sort of rushed and not as soft and lovely as it can be when we have time to settle into it. And I'm not preparing enough for our transitions. But, overall, our contact is getting better.. she's definitely a better tempo.. a better balance... she is more submissive and does all the things in the right place and time. So... not too shabby. And the judge wrote on our test that she was the prettiest appaloosa she's ever seen! Awwww.. And that we just need to be more consistent and soft. So.. she's not wrong. :) We also still scored a 33.3, which.. was probably generous, but... still! I'll take it! 

I sponged her off and tied her to the trailer with her hay and gave her some cookies and then went  to walk cross country. It was beefy! I thought anyways. The same hanging log over the flat table base to start, then a fairly decent sized cabin/roll top thing... then a large ramp with some brush, then a smaller ramp... then through the mare pasture and out over a small table.. then down the steep hill and back up to another small table. Then down the hill to the second water and we got to jump the pirate ship and then the double water and a small hanging log stack out.. Then around the lake and over a feeder..... to a half coffin (which was small) and then a 90 degree turn to a tiny up bank to a small roll top... then straight up the hill to the upright gate, then the baby trakehner, then downhill to a hanging log, then up to a large vertical-ish bench thing, then a new number but connected line to a wedge, then a big table to finish. So... maybe it wasn'[t that beefy.. just a few big fences that were fairly big. And some fun combinations, but the combinations were small, so that was nice. Then I walked back to check on Funny, who was fine and just chilling. Then I walked stadium, which was a fun course. It looked kind of big, but was set for training. 

Then I realized Jacel was riding. She has Smidge in for training, the vaulting horse I work on. So I went to watch and video her. And then it started raining.. and then it kind of poured. Well, big fat heavy raindrops but it was a fairly steady rain for about 10 minutes. Long enought to get fairly wet. Then it was time to go tack up! Of course poor Funny was standing in the rain too. (Not that she doesn't do that at home, but... ). I tacked up and once I got her boots on, she was making me laugh. I don't know why they were bothering her, but she was kicking her back leg out.. then she was repeatedly crossing one front leg over the other and then swapping with the other front leg. Trying to wipe them off it looked like. I checked them and they were fine, so.. maybe just cause they were on wet-ish legs?? I hopped on and we headed to warm up. She seemed completely fine after that. 

We warmed up and she was great! We had about 5 good jumps and decided we were ready. They had dropped the fences and the course looked fairly small-ish. I don't think it was small, but it wasn't big looking. They did have a triple bar but without the gazebo's, which made a huge difference. And we had 2 two strides. The first one was long and the second one was slightly tight. So Funny and I went in and we had a fabulous round!! She just clocked around and didn't put a foot wrong. We got a few tighter distances, but she jumped fine and we didn't have any rails. She jumped the slightly long two stride beautifully and the slightly short one tight but fine. And she jumped the triple bar but got in tight, but no hesitation. It was nice because a few people told us how nice our round was. It really did feel nice too! Especially since that tends to be our worst phase. Well, my worst phase with all my horses, except for maybe with Funny back in the early days when dressage was our worst phase! ha!

 

So then we headed on over to XC. And holy cow the sun had come out and the rain stopped but it was positively steamy!! I jumped one coop and then we headed out on course! I didn't have my watch, but..I didn't care. I don't think it really matters.. Unless I don't want to get speeding tickets ;) Funny was AMAZING though! I was a little scared because.. those fences looked big at the walk through.But she was like "I got you Ma, hold on". She clocked through the majority of that course like it was nothing. She was jumping in such good form too... not flat or strung out. She didn't really even look at any of the big tables or scary things, just jumped them all out of stride. And props to me too, for riding correctly and giving her the ride she wanted and needed. We power trotted down the steep hill after the mare field and then cantered back up to the cabin. Then we power trotted down the hill beside the banks to the lake. I asked for the canter as we were turning past the giant scary trakehner and she picked it up but was super crooked. I was trying to fix it but about 3 strides out I realized I hadn't fixed it and she was so crooked.... so I pulled her off the fence. I knew as I did it that it was likely going to be counted as a refusal, but.. it felt like the better choice. Especially given the scare we had Tuesday. And honestly, she might have refused it had I made her jump it because she was so crooked and off balance. But once we circled and got a good canter, she jumped it just fine. So it was the right choice... I could have stuffed her over it, and might have, had it been something more "imporant" score wise ... ie.. had I needed the qualifying ride or something. But it wasn't worth it. It was a very small schooling show... we aren't gunning for points for anything, and we're already qualified for the N3D, so... it felt like the right choice. She then tried to squirt sideways and avoid the water, but I managed to get her in and it definitely wasn't a refusal. She went sideways but she never lost forward momentum (other than coming down to a trot). She was squirrely at the second water too.. as it has the dry hump in the middle, but less so. We then trotted over the log out and then made it past the rushing water pipe on the dam. Then she picked up the canter and we cruised around the rest of the course!!! She nailed the wedgey too! And we even jumped the last fence beautifully.. not flat and strung out. I'm sooooo proud of her!! And me too. :) A little bit for me too. 

She got hosed off and grazed a little and then she got to rest a tiny bit and then we leaded up and headed home. And thankfully, I have tomorrow off because of the holiday so I don't have to be so tired for work! :) Yay! I could really get used to the retired horse life life. :)  

But yes.. I'm so proud of her. I'm so grateful that God has placed her in my life in a time when I was able to become the rider she needs. She has helped me advance in so many ways and has made me such a better rider. I'm grateful that God gave me Liz and Jacel to get us this far in our journey and I know it's only going to get better! And I'm grateful that Funny has decided I'm worthy and we're a team now! She's definitely FUN now!!! I'm so excited for our future. And I am sure that we'll have setbacks.. we'll plateau, but right now.. I'm loving this escalation where the hard work finally has paid off and things are coming together with good ride after good ride! Thank you God!

So much fun! So responsive!

 Oh how I love this mare!!! 

We had the farrier this morning. And she's such a butt!! When Russel and Patrick would work on her, she would pin her ears and just look so annoyed. Like... "are you peasants qualified?" Ha ha. Seriously mare... come on.. .don't be a Dan. ;) But she was good and she behaved herself. And then she kept squatting and spreading her legs for "taint tickles". ha ha.. Girl!! 

Anwyays, we went for our lesson right after lunch. It was a Barbara's again. It was just me and Funny as Laura was having a flat lesson after. Luckily the weather cooperated a little and we had some cloud coverage and a great breeze out there. We warmed up and Funny was not wanting to bend to the right. At all... and when she finally did, she would drift hard left. Ugh. She was slower and softer though... Jacel yelled to me "MOVE YOUR RIGHT SHOULDER BACK"!! Ugh. It's so hard. She throws me so sideways. Maybe... maybe it's not her though. I really need to see the chiropractor! I did try to make an appointment today but it's gonna be two weeks before they can see me. Ugh. Oh well. Once I moved my right shoulder back though, she was much more bendy and correct. She still drifted a little, but.. not as bad. Especially when I put my outside leg back to bring her butt back in. 

So then we chatted a bit and then I cantered. She was bouncy but not terrible. We had been talking about me offering to ride Drago for Jacel since she said she can't fall off and get hurt because of Grace. And I laughed and said that perhaps I'd be better off riding Drago because Funny was still such a sassy pants! ha ha. 

So then we started to jump. Jacel had set up three fences on a curve. A vertical, 3 strides to a small vertical then four strides to a bigger vertical. No ground lines. Then farther down the arena was a small cavaletti bounce and then farther down the arena a large square oxer. We started with the three jumps on the bend. And it wasn't great. But I was not riding her on the turn... Stop using my hands.. keep my hands low... turn her with my shoulder! So I did.. but left out my inside leg, so she fell in a bit. So we did it again with inside leg and it was so much better! I was sitting too quick though and she had a few rails with her hind end. 

So then we moved onto the bounce and she told me to let her mess it up! Don't micromanage and nit pick and never let her learn. Plus, when I hold her and pick... she gets mad and fights me. If I let her make a mistake, she doesn't get mad at me for it and learns from it. But if she's too busy fighting me, she's not learning. So I half halted a few strides out and then set my hands low on her neck and just sat there... and darned if she didn't self correct and bounce through it nicely. Okay then... So then we added the oxer. 

And then.. we finished with the three jumps on the curve, then bend to the bounce, then bend to the oxer. It was basically a repetitive figure 8/triple bubble and all the jumps were off a bend. And it was really quite nice! I had figured out how to not touch her face, and you know... I didn't need to! She was riding off my shoulders and my inside leg. And it was amazing!! When I kept my hands low, kept my inside leg on, stepped into my outside stirrup, stayed back with my shoulders, kept my butt out of the saddle til after landing, and turned with my shoulders... she didn't need the rein aids! She was riding off my body position. IT WAS SO COOL!!! It felt like I could have ridden her bridleless! SO NEAT! And there was one moment where she got a little tipped on the forehand, so I did the softest halfhalt and she came right back. Oh how glorious! If I stay out of her way and don't "scream" at her... and just whisper with my body... she doesn't fight me and we can be super soft together. And she jumps so nice!

Such a fun lesson. That was super cool. It really feels like all the hard work is finally paying off. It feels like Funny knows I'm her person and she trusts me and is working WITH me, provided I follow the rules. But fair... I mean... that's a good relationship to have. And she's still sassy enough.. but not naughty anymore. SO MUCH FUN!

And then tonight when I fed dinner I notieed she was missing her hind shoe. FUNNY!! We literally just got that put on this morning! And we're showing Sunday, and probably have to leave at 5 am Sunday. Ugh. I felt so bad but I texted Patrick at 8 pm. He's amazing. He's coming tomorrow morning to put it back on. Gah... But at least I found it. He asked if I had it and I told him I was about to go look... in the rain! (Drizzle.. ha ha.. it was just drizzling at this point). And I found it... I pretty much walked straight out to the hay feeder and there it was. I sent him a photo and he laughed and said I was incredibly talented at finding lost shoes. Ha ha. It's my super power ;) 

So yay.. horse show still on! There's only 3 people in my division. It's such a small show. I'm guessing partly because of the storms for the weekend and mostly because it hasn't rained enough that the footing there is probably pretty hard. I didn't think about that until today. Ugh... Well... hopefully they got rain today (and tomorrow) too and the footing will be better!

Cross Country Money

 Our XC lesson kept getting foiled, so... with Full Gallop approaching and me getting a little panicky.... I decided to bail on Liz and jump XC at Ashland today. But then I thought... "OR.... I could see if Liz could come teach me"... And she said she would. Which, was perfect, because... while Dan could be ridden today.. I wanted to hack him since it was his first ride back post injections.. and then I wanted to play with Lyric on my own some more. And I really wanted to jump XC. And I'm so glad we did because it was soooo helpful!

We warmed up and Liz yelled at me for being too quick. Even on XC Holly, think slow.. stay behind the motion... Fiiiinnnnnnneeeee... ha ha. But she's not wrong. And it worked! Shoot, I was just thrilled that we were trotting on XC instead of cantering. ;) But we actually got a lovely trot and while she was a little bouncy before... spooky... twitchy... she was trying hard to be good. And Liz asked how she felt and I said "really good but a little explosive". She said it didn't look explosive and... I realized.. she really didn't feel explosive, like a ticking time bomb way... she felt ... like that amazing feel that you want... ready to do whatever you ask at the next second... lots of impulsion and energy... balanced. Ahhhhhh!! SHE HAS THE POWER!!!!  :) :) 

So then we started to jump. We walked the ditch and she was fine. Then Liz had me trot the middle ditch and easy peasy. Then she had me do the big ditch with the log after but wanted me to skip the log. She's jumped that like a thousand times, but okay. Ha.. and that's what happens when I get cocky and complacent. I angled it too much to avoid the log out and she stopped. So... I came back again and had a better line and not as much of a take off runway and she was fine. Liz told me that when I was schooling I should probably start much closer to the fences than I do. I tend to give her a long runway because I feel like that gives me time to get her settled, but Liz felt like it just gave her too much time to be naughty. And... good point... if she just has to get going and go straight to work it's better than if we do a lot of "nothing" prior to working hard. She likes a challenge. 

So then we did a super helpful warm up by the ditches. There were three cabins almost parallel so she had me trot the baby one, then roll back to the middle one, then roll back to the big one. And.. it was harder than it looked. I jumped ahead... I didn't get my lead... she scrambled... So, lesson learned... Wide hands so I can control her shoulders better.. and it helps keep me in the back seat and doesn't give me chicken wings.... stay in the back seat.. she jumps so much better when I'm not tipped forward. When I tip forward, she feels like she has to get quick and take flyers to "catch up" to me, but when I stay in the back seat (and I'm really not in the back seat, but... for making my body behave), she can settle into a nice balance and jump off her hind end. And then put my weight in my outside stirrup and outside rein to get the bend and balance and use my inside leg to push her barrel out. And half halt with my outside rein. And it got so much better!! Today was really cool because the differences in the good and bad were so obvious! And it's not even that the bad was bad (well, it was twice, but more on that later). But the mediocre was dramatically improved to fantastic with a few small tweaks. And I could feel the difference! Which does monumental things for my brain and learning. 

So then we did the coffin with the slight bendy line and she was really quite good. We tweaked it a few times because it was slightly downhill and I tipped my shoulders, which put her on the forehand. But when I sat up with my chest, it was lovely. We also focused on walking the lines better. Which... is frustrating for me. I'm not sure why, but... like "it's not rocket science... let's get on with it"... But.. it kind of is rocket science.. or it will be at the upper levels, so... pay attention to it now Holly! 

So then we did the bigger cabin to the ditch and wall to the trakehner and we walked the lines. And I didn't let Funny look at the ditch and wall or trakenher, so we did it "cold". But she was great! She peeked at the ditch but jumped it great. From the base. And then she was fine with the trakehner. Good girl! We did it twice so I could fix my mistakes. (Getting smacked in the face by the tree branch and having to duck two strides out from the trakehner didn't help). But I did fix them. Yay!

So then we went to the banks and practiced that. We did the small up bank and then went to trot down the bigger bank. And she was cantering and I got her to trot but it was a very resistant trot and on the forehand and not balanced and she stopped. She danced a bit on the edge and then Liz told me to pull her off and come again. She noticed that Funny does not like when I chase/get after her at the base of things. So I came around at the trot, got an effective (outside rein) halfhalt and her trot was more balanced and she leapt right off. Cool! So we did it again from the canter, got the trot a few strides out, half halted and balanced and she was lovely down it. Yay!

So then we had talked about what I wanted to jump today so Liz made a little course. She suggested I do the scary lincoln log upright vertical instead of the novice table with flowers. Okay... she's jumped that before and it was no big deal, but sure. (Except.. it had all four logs stacked up so it was a hair taller than the table... but not wide, so it didn't freak me out). I also wanted to do the ramp, so... we cantered off and did a cabin and then down to the ramp. She looked at the ramp a tiny bit but I rode gritty and used my crop and she jumped it fine. Then we came down the bank (at a trot) and then went straight up to the skinny. She was looking at Liz and Grace off to the left but she did focus on the jump early enough. However, she was running and blew off my half halt so we came to it quite flat. And then she tried to squirt out and I held her in, so she jumped it. But she caught it with her knees and started to almost rotate over it. I, luckily, had kept my shoulders back (for once!) and knew I was coming off, but was desperately trying to stay on at least long enough to not land underneath her. Luckily Funny is like a cat and managed to slide her front legs down and catch herself and not flip and that helped me stay up on her neck/shoulder long enough that I was able to sling around to the side and hang on (via her mouth, sorry girl!) until she had landed with all four and then I slung around her shoulder and landed on my feet next to her! She stopped herself and I ran with her a step or two so she didn't step on or into me. GOOD GIRL! What a save! That felt like it could have been really bad. Really, really bad. Ooof. Okay... Liz took one log off and we talked. She said that it was all Funny's fault really. I half halted and she ignored me and... she paid the consequences. Had my shoulders not been back I wouldn't have fared as well. So... she wanted me to get a good half halt and come again and if she didn't listen, circle! So I cantered off, thinking I'd get a long approach again so I could make sure she listened to my halfhalt and Liz yelled at me. NOPE! We have to do it correctly and give her confidence before we challenge it again. Okay... that's probably smart. So I made a small circle, got a good half halt and we had a nice balanced canter to it and it was fine. Okay.. so then we did a big sweeping approach and got a good half halt way out...testing... then another half halt a few strides out and it was fine. Okay..phew. We both agreed that twice in quick succession, Funny had consequences to ignoring my half halt and we both suspected that she was contemplating and might just realize that I'm trying to help her most of the time. SO.... while it was scary and I'm super grateful neither of us were hurt... it was kind of nice for her to learn that lesson now! 

So then we took a breather and then put together a few more fences. We jumped the brushy cabin thing, then went around to the roll top into the water and out of the water and then for fun, I jumped the lincoln log thing again from the other direction. And she was great. She got a little squirrely to the brush, because she usually does, but I rode and held her and she jumped it. She was great over the roll top and great into and through the water. And then, because it was a little last minute, our line wasn't beautiful to the lincoln logs, but it wasn't bad and we did it. I wanted to jump the table too but I don't actually think I did. I meant to... But somehow I didn't. Oh well.  We quit with the water line because she was good and she was getting tired. 

 

We took a nice walk to the lake to let her drink and splash. And to try to "ice" her legs. But she almost immediately threatened to roll so I kicked her on and we just walked back home. Sorry! In retrospect I should have pulled her tack off and let her. I did give her a nice long hose off and then she got to roll at home. 

Good pony! I do think this will be very helpful for the future. It was nice to feel the difference between "good" and "SUPER!!!". Now to just remember how good super felt and be greedy for it. :) 

Feralness is FUN!!!

 Okay, I'm so glad I did that!! I was debating whether or not to ride Funny today. I had my lesson on Lyric this morning... and then I had lunch. And then, I decided to go to the Growers Outlet and get plants... and then I debated planting them vs going to ride. But, I decided to go ride. I can plant later or tomorrow. And Funny was in her stall looking at me.. and I already had my boots and breeches on (still from Lyric)... so... we went! I debated going bareback to splash in the lake at Ashland vs Hard Labor.... But I decided on Hard Labor. And I'm so glad I did, because we had a blast!

 

We got there and I tacked up quick because it was hot and muggy. I decided to try the green trail since Jenny had said it was her favorite. And.. it's 8 miles, but it looked less likely for me to get lost vs trying to do a shorter loop on the 16 mile loop. Plus, the 16 mile loop blue trail had some detours, so... I figured I was safer on the green. And it was so well marked!!! I didn't get lost! Well, okay... almost once. 

 

We started off and got almost to the first mile marker before we trotted any. I wanted her to be warmed up. But then the footing was good so we trotted a tiny bit. I figured that some trotting would help shorten how long it would take us to do 8 miles. We got to the road crossing and she was good and luckily there weren't any cars so we didn't have to wait. We crossed over and headed out. It was so pretty and GREEN! Ha ha. We managed to follow the trail markers and they were nice and had them pretty well noted very frequently and then had the mile markers and even had signs where it wasn't obvious which way to go. And then where there was the crossroads or the loop rejoined, they had signs saying "this way to stable, 1.75 miles" or "to trail, 6.4 miles to stables", which was handy, because then I didn't cut my ride short. But also handy, because I could have made it shorter.   

Anyways... we had a blast. We did some trotting and then she wanted to power trot. Which was fun, because I had no idea where the path went and when it turned or went downhill. We had to walk a good bit because the footing was rocky, rutted out, or just too twisty. But we got to do a ton of trotting and even had some decent canter stretches! That trail is really fun because there was a good bit of fairly straight stretches with good footing that you could canter on. Wheeee!! I was giggling because while there were good stretches, there was also some twists and turns and it's really fun to be cantering or power trotting when you have no idea where the path is going to take you. Funny was having a blast too and was following the trail on her own. I barely had to steer. She chose to canter and trot and I just let her. Mostly. :) SO MUCH FUN! 

 

We had a couple of creek crossings and she didn't want to cross them and tried to turn and go the other way. But once I insisted once or twice, she walked through them fine. Silly girl! And she spooked at a few culverts and pipes and downed trees. Hee hee.. She gave them a wide berth. And two young armadillo's surprised us but she just looked at them. We did have one big issue, which she handled brilliantly! I'm so darn proud of her! There was a creek crossing about 5.5 miles in and the creek is kind of down in a ditch... a fairly steep ditch... maybe 2' deep. The place where it looked like you were supposed to cross was by a tree, but the roots were all exposed where the sand/dirt had been washed out. So.. it looked like a death wish.. like no way could Funny safely navigate that! So we walked along the edge for a few minutes, trying to find a safe place to pass. And.. there really wasn't. I finally found the safest looking place, but there was quite a bit of a drop into the creek, then a slightly more gradual up on the other side. And it was a small creek, but... it was not anything she (nor I) had ever really navigated and there were trees and mud and such. I walked her up to it and squeezed and... darn if she didn't size up the situation and respond like a seasoned trail horse. She sort of hunkered down, and slid her front feet down and then kind of leapt to the other side. I was so impressed! I didn't even have to ask as hard as I asked her to walk through the flat shallow creeks! GOOD PONY!!! Seriously.. I was so proud of her!

(here's the shallow creek crossing she almost spun and ran out of, and then the photo of the area we had to jump across... didn't get a photo of it but I think this was it as we were coming up on it).

 

We did some more trotting and cantering... and did some walking because it was hot and humid and she was sweating and working hard. Those hills are no joke! The last bit had lots of good canter stretches and she had caught her breath and asked, so I let her canter on! Wheeeeeee! We tried to walk the last mile or so but there was some serious thunder rumbles and I knew there was a slight chance of a storm, so.. we trotted a tiny bit more. But we made it home with no rain! I pulled her bridle off and tied her to the trailer and then hit the unlock button on the truck. It beeped and flashed and Funny jumped in place so hard she almost slid on the pavement. Girl!! Ha ha.. So twitchy!! I got her untacked and hosed her off. I wanted to hose myself off too. Today was hot and humid. The first 90 degree day of the year I think. We loaded up and headed home. 

 

I'm so proud of her! She was so game and brave and we had so much fun. It was so good for my soul to just be running amuck in the woods with no idea where the path was taking us... just trusting my horse to not run me into a tree. hee hee.. I love her so!