Bareback

Rode Rhapsody bareback in a halter for the first time yesterday!

I was burned out and exhausted after the week and decided all I really wanted was to love on a pony. So I pulled Rhapsody out and after I groomed her up we did groundwork a while and then I got on bareback in the round pen.

She did super good really. I wish I had pictures! She didn't like the pressure from the rope halter--kept swishing her tail and pulling against it. Next time I'll try with a regular nylon one and see if that helps. But she stopped, turned, walked both ways, and was good. Afterwards I put a regular bridle on and rode her bareback down to her pasture. We met the farm owner on the Pony-Eating Gator of Death and though she jigged sideways and was jittery for a bit afterwards, we didn't have any major issues. Yay! One step closer to my goal of bareback and bridle-less! :)

Week's Rides

I have no idea why Blogger has decided I only want one post at a time on my blog! So frustrating!

Okay. For the training diaries. Last Friday I was feeling quite meh because of my sickness plus it was frigid cold. So I stayed home. This week though I have been out twice and hopefully going out again tomorrow. Monday it was frigid cold anyways! Felt like Christmas and my fingers just about came off!

However I did get quick rides in on Rhapsody and Surge, and a fair bit of groundwork with Surge. She was hyper and super distracted and all she wanted to do was gallop around, throw her head around, and stick her nose over the round pen to scream for her old friend in the next pasture over (who she never was really friends with anyways). Arrgh mares. However with a lot of groundwork on respecting and listening to me, she settled down to the point where I felt comfortable getting on and walking her round, bending both directions, and getting off. Must say I'm rather proud of myself for being able to work her through that. :) Rhapsody was very good; we did walk and trot and though she wasn't as relaxed and stretchy as last time, we still got some nice intermittent trot stretches and went by some scary things--the mounting block where it wasn't supposed to be, people walking around by the arena, and a clipboard on the side of the arena with papers blowing--with nothing more than a sidewise look and an attempt to give them a wide berth. She tried hard in a distracting environment and I was proud of her. 

Wednesday was much warmer (thank heavens) and I just rode Fringe as I (thought I) had an evening appointment. Instructor D was giving a showmanship lesson, so staying out of the way of that kept us busy. We still managed some nice walk/trot work though, and then we went on a trail ride out almost to the river. Fringe was very good and only got nervous on the way back when one of the little girls was playing in the run-in sheds and chute area alongside the road. Can't say I really blame her for not being sure of that. We worked through it and she was good.  Tomorrow it's back to Rhapsody and Surge again, provided it doesn't rain!

In Which I Learn to Go Fast!

Boing! (image from Google)

Disclaimer: I love to go fast. Always have. But I forgot how to do it during my year or so of trying to learn to ride English properly, and generally failing miserably. Now, having regained my confidence and balance, I'm remembering!

Yesterday was nice but I was coming down with a cold (boo colds) so I just took Brandi for a trail ride. I suppose I shouldn't say "just" because it was her first trail ride, she's only 2 or 3, and we didn't have a lead horse. But we all know by now that I'm an idiot, so I did it anyway. :) We went down to Rhapsody's pasture and back (not ready to hit the scaryness of swing sets and arbors and docks by the river yet), and she was super good! She did freeze solid when we saw another horse coming toward us on the road, lol, but after we stopped and talked to them a bit, everything was okay.

Then I thought I would take Fringe out. We didn't ride with instructor D's lesson today because it was during her usual 2'+ lesson, they were up in the jump arena, there was a good wind blowing, and the jump arena has many goblins. So I just set up a little cross-rail on the diagonal in the small arena. We did our usual walk warmup and then we went into trot.  And Fringe decided it was much better to race around at warp speeds with her head in the air like a demented llama. So I decided to play with the same idea I did with Rhapsody on Tuesday. She didn't feel spooky, just distracted and fast, so I put her in canter (since she was refusing to just trot) and we cantered.

Okay, I went into half-seat and we galloped. Or went as fast as one can go in that arena (it's rather small). The only thing I insisted was that she stay in canter until I told her to transition down. She couldn't just galumph down the long side and break in the corner. We went what seemed a long time; probably only a dozen laps at most, but I was worn out from PE class and the afore-mentioned cold, so it seemed a very long time! Super fun though! And when we came down she was calm as you please, responsive to the leg but no more zooms. Just had to get it out of her system I guess. We went on to do some walk with nice head position, a fair bit of not-inverted-and-sometimes-even-stretchy-ish trot, and the crossrail both directions--one way was fine and the other way was very spooky and she tried to run out several times. She never got away with it but we ended up popping over from a dead stop more than once! Finally she decided to jump it and we had a lovely jump with a nice canter off on the right lead!

So we stopped there. I was exhausted--not quite the easy, low-key ride I'd anticipated! :P  But that's what comes of riding babies, I guess--you have to be ready to play with the horse that shows up. Tis fun though! And I am so far thoroughly impressed by the results of just "riding as fast as the horse can go." Not saying it would work with every horse, but with my girls so far it's been quite promising! Here's to hoping it stays that way!