So hot!

Argh... But also not argh. Funny got her shoe put back on yesterday. So I'm very grateful for that. I was going to wait til Friday and not bother Patrick but.. then with Dan and Lyric both being unridable (lost shoe and injections and two lost shoes), it meant I couldn't ride anyone all week. And it's hot.. it's fine. But then I noticed Patrick drive by while I was doing the dishes. He was obviously going to Jeans. So I texted him asking him if he'd be willing to tack Funny's shoe on, but no pressure if he was tired and wanted to go home. He said he had to get to his daughters soccer game but probably could. Bless him. He ran by and tacked it on real quick. Yay!

 

Which meant... I could do my lesson!! However, the heat index was supposed to be crazy high today and I knew it. Actual temp was supposed to be 97 with a real feel of 110!! UGHHHH. I asked if we would still ride last night and they said yes... But I knew better. Plus, I wanted to make sure Funny was sound before I hauled to my lesson, so... I hopped on this morning. I figured worst case scenario, she'd get ridden twice. But she's young... she can dressage in the morning and jump in the evening. So we rode. I did keep it fairly short though. Partly because I was anticipating having a second ride and partly because... it was already hot and humid and icky. 

I didn't get on quite as early as I had wanted to, but it was still doable. It wasn't too bad tacking up but as soon as we hacked out to the arena the sun broke through and it got hotter. But, in reality, it wasn't any worse than it has been. And she was rather feral! When we got near the arena she started shaking and snaking her head and threatening to be naughty. I debated whether I needed to get off and lunge her. But we managed to get to the arena and once we got in, she settled pretty quickly. We warmed up with the walk work... shoulder in, haunches in, and leg yield and then she was fine. No more antics. 

She was quick but not too bad. Overall, a pretty good girl and a decent ride. It was getting hot so we kept it short. She had a few funky steps here and there but only intermittently and not consistently. I couldn't always recreate it either by repeating the same circle or whatever. I do suspect that the padding just was squishing the sore spot at that particular moment. So, I'll get him to double check her on Friday when he does the rest of her feet. Poor guy!

We played with the trot lengthens again. And it felt like we got some legit ones today. I think! Her canter is getting better again. I had come across a post from Ritter Dressage about how you should pay attention to what your body is doing when your horse is going nicely and how you want. Then make your body do that all the time. Oooh, that's a cool way to think of it. When she's going nicely.. what am I doing with my body? And then... if I can continue to do "that" with my body, will she go soft and nice again? Worth a try! Plus it sort of helps me pay attention to my body and takes the burden off Funny. So instead of being mad that she's not doing what I want... I can focus on what I need to do to help her do what I want. And maybe, just maybe, this way of thinking will help me to fix some bad habits. Despite that.. our trot walk trots still sucked today. Ugh. Oh  well. Our halts were decent though and the walk work is better. 

And then... right around lunchtime.. Jacel cancelled our lesson because it was just too hot!! So.. I'm soooo glad I rode this morning because I would have been extra sad had I not ridden when it was bearable vs waiting til it was too hot to bother.