I have a plan!

I've been plotting this out for a week, and it's been approved by all parties and set into motion. See, K just got a 2 horse bumper pull which she's leaving at the field, and she said I am welcome to use it... so I'm going to start hauling Dixie over to the main barn for my lessons. I think we're at a point where the two of us could really benefit from instruction. She's steadying down a bit and actually listening to my aids and responding to them, instead of fighting or bolting. And I keep noticing things I'm doing wrong, but I know I don't notice them as quickly as I should.

K said I can just use the trailer, but I insisted on bargaining for it with her - I'm going to ride one of her horses (Promise or Poppy) once a week in exchange for hauling once a week. I keep meaning to ride them, but never actually getting around to it. If I feel obligated, I'll actually do it. And Hardy is excited too, and the barn owner's happy, so yay :)

Catchup - Sunday's lesson on Val went better. I get so frustrated with her and instead of calmly giving an aid I tense up all over, which makes Val completely ignore me. I'd been thinking about that last week, so Sunday I tried to ride in a zen-like state of calm, and it worked pretty well. After the lesson was over, when I was cooling her down, I flopped the stirrups over the pommel and dropped the reins and steered her around with just legs and seat. Hopefully I can hang onto that calmness in the future!

Sunday afternoon I rode Promise again. She still weirds me out, with the lop ears, and I don't feel like I know what she's thinking, but we're getting there. Apparently she is mainly thinking "Oh boy oh boy can we run yet?" We walked in a few prancy circles, then I asked for a trot and got a canter, and then I made the classic beginner error of clamping my legs down in surprise, so we galloped away. It only took a couple seconds for me to realize what I was doing, sit back and relax my legs, and coax her back down to a trot. I'm getting better! She's really not in shape to gallop me around, although she is filling out nicely. I'll keep working with her, and her human is doing some lounge line work with her daily.

Yesterday I rode Dixie on the trails and she did quite well. She listened almost all the time! Then I trimmed Champ and made him exercise me on the dead-end part of the street. We walked a lap, to get us warmed up, then we trotted two or three laps. Part of the time I worked on posting correctly with stirrups, and part of the time I posted without stirrups. I know that I need to work those core muscles to build them up, but at the same time I don't want to flop painfully on my poor horse's back. Google Earth says a lap is a half-mile, so we did about a mile or a mile and a half.

I was planning on riding Poppy today, but I actually got to go to work instead. Yay money! I won't have to work tomorrow until late morning or early afternoon, so I'm going to get up early, ride Poppy, and haul Dixie out to the main barn. She needs to visit a few times before I try to actually have a productive lesson on her.

Anyway, I'm never going to be as disciplined as Andrea, but I actually have a plan. Wooo!

Oh, pictures!

I stole these from K's facebook. She won't mind.

Here's Promise. Yes, she's still thin, but she's gained a lot of weight and has a much improved (read: bitchier) disposition now! Also her right ear is permanently bent sideways. I don't know the story behind that.



Here's a few of me on Poppy. See the stupid wide muck boots? Also I know I'm leaning forward a bit :( but in my defense the ground slopes and I overcompensate.






Cersei is rather reckless. She knows Poppy will squash her and keeps a sharp eye on him, but she just has to run with us.

Funder, the polo star

... or something!

So I'd promised K that if she brought Poppy's saddle today, I'd ride him for her. He was a good boy, of course. He tried to slither sideways toward trees a few times, but I stopped him. The earlier you notice he's up to something, the easier it is to dissuade him, but that's true for any horse.

Anyway, I did some very basic work: turn, stop, walk, trot. I got everything I wanted - no major hissyfits, fairly prompt speed changes - and got off. K loves him and takes good care of him... but he's actually getting worked LESS by her than he was by me. I offered to ride him for her when I have time, and I will. I feel kinda bad that he's not working toward any potential.

After I set Poppy free, I got to talking to a friend of mine who was visiting us. A few minutes later, K led Promise up and said "So you gonna ride her?"

I have a problem with ever saying no to anything that's remotely like a challenge. Ride a 23 year old ex polo pony who hasn't had a rider for several years? Well, hell, Poppy didn't kill me so she couldn't possibly!

K got Promise for free a couple months ago. Promise's former owner was behind in board and surrendered her to the barn owner, who gave her to K. (I assume there's a contract involved; I don't know the details.) Anyway, Promise was really thin when K got her, but K has been religiously graining her twice a day and the old mare is coming back really nicely! K and her friend B have been longeing her lightly to help build her muscles back up, and the old bat thinks she's the queen of the field these days.

So Kelly led up a skinny (but fatter!) lop eared old Thoroughbred and asked if I was going to ride her. Of course I couldn't say no! I jammed my foot in a stirrup (bad sign), swung up, collected my reins, noticed she was in Goblin's goofy rope halter/hackamore (BAD! SIGN!), and she was off. She perked up both of her ears as high as she could and pranced away, just pleased as pie that a human was finally back on her back! She picked up a soft slow trot and I realized that my steering was really "mushy." Sat back and asked for a halt and she completely ignored me (more likely, didn't understand me.)

Stupid Funder, she's never been ridden in a stupid little rope halter fffffffff

I calmly trotted a big circle back toward the merrily chatting group of people and asked for someone to please grab her. They were all "Whaaaaat?" I very calmly repeated myself and explained that she HAD NO BRAKES, and somebody grabbed her halter as we walked past, and WHEW.


But of course that wasn't much of a ride, and Promise's eyes were sparkling, and I happened to have a bunch of snaffle bits in my truck... so I bitted her up (5" single jointed copper snaffle) and we took off again. As soon as I stuck my foot in the stirrup I remembered that thing that had been bugging me before I realized she had no steering and no brakes - my feet were stuck. I was riding in T's saddle, which has those stupid narrow Western stirrups, and I was wearing my muck boots, and my feet were stuck.

Oh well! Promise was just overjoyed that I was riding her again. I am not exaggerating, and I'm not mistaking exhausted or terrified for overjoyed. That mare was happy to have a rider. She didn't want to buck, and she didn't (quite) want to canter off with me, but she really wanted to trot super gracefully around and impress me. And she DID impress me!

The bit made all the difference in the world. The lightest contact would steer her, just like it ought to, and she listened when I asked her to stop. We did a couple laps around the front part of the field and I asked her to stop and she did, just a little reluctantly. I really enjoyed her (although feeling like my feet are stuck makes me pretty panicky) and I'm definitely going to ride her again - but I don't want to overdo it!

And just to note it, I took Dixie on a nice trail ride ALONE yesterday. She did fine; I'm planning on taking her again tomorrow and I'll have more to say about her then!