Good Progress (IMO)

I had a productive day today. Robert was working on cleaning the shop so I was sent out to sweep and then work my horses.

I started with Colonel. I still havent put a standing martingale on him. I couldn't find a proper one, so I thought I'd use some bailing twine, but I just dont like the idea so I havent done it. Anyway, I didn't do any turning out or lunging this time, we just headed right on out there. I didn't warm up as much as I probably should. Colonel was good and ready to trot, so rather than fight him about it, I asked for my trot a little early. (Ok, a lot early.)

He kept sidepassing into the grass, largely ignoring my reins and my leg. When we started to go through the turns on the north side of the field he veered out into the grass again and decided it was snack time. Between him plunging his head down and stopping on his forehand I went over his neck. I grabbed his neck before I went down. This meant I was going to fall basically right in front of him. I hit the ground and covered my face with my forearms and waited to see if I'd get trampled or not. When I didn't get stepped on I opened my eyes and started mentally preparing for my walk of shame across the field to go fetch my horse. Colonel, it turns out, had swerved to avoid me, and then stopped and eaten some grass.

So, he did get some grass out of the deal, but he also got his girth tightened another two holes so that I could get on him from the ground. It turns out that with a little leftover adrenaline I'm not too bad at that. He even stood still for the whole thing. Without further ado we were off and trotting again. I was pretty pleased with the effect of my protective vest. I think that next time, since we weren't going fast when stuff happened, I wont grab his neck going down. That way I can make sure I fall on the back of my hip instead of the front of my hip.

Anyway, after that we had a great ride. He was a little more amped up than last time, and he pulled on my hands some, but I liften my hands and he cut it out. Also, I remembered to time us (eventually) and discovered that it takes us five minutes to trot the entire field.

There was a lot more unauthorized cantering this time. (Why is the disobedient canter sooo nice?) Frankly, if he keeps getting better the way he has been, we might do some authorized cantering when the track dries out a little more. I told this to Robert, and he cautioned me that Colonel could go pretty fast. I reminded him that I was quite aware of that, thank you very much. He looked puzzled, I explained, then he remembered my brief, ill fated career as a jockey.

Next up was Star. She was pretty tense, so we walked around the field. She was very very upset by Vic and the yard mower. She was also very skeptical about the damp footing. I tried doing some trot work in the little outdoor arena in the field. She was horribly pissy and falling into her circles as though pulled by a black hole. I looked at her saddle and it had slid up again. When I got a little bit of good walk out of her I got off and led her home.

We worked on walking through puddles in hand. Amazing how much better that goes with a dressage whip. Eventually I had her walking through like it was nothing and I put her away. I was still pretty depressed about the saddle situation.

I was talking to Robert about it. He thinks I'm overreacting. Eventually he saw that this would not console me, so he suggested trying his fancy memory foam pad next time I rode. After a few minutes I realized that I wouldn't feel better until I tried it, so I brought her back out and tacked her back up with the fancy pad and minus the fore girth.

Robert accompanied me to the arena and I cantered Star around a bit on her bad direction. She still gets upset if my weight gets too far forward, but she didn't outright stop. She was sluggish but Robert thinks she didn't look uncomfortable, or upset. He further postulates that she may not like going around in the arena because she doesn't see the point. I think she feels unsteady in the turns and outside she doesn't need to turn as often. Anyway, I'm pretty happy with the pad. After Robert left we did some more cantering in the other direction, and we worked on our trot. I got a lot of nice rounded trot and was extreemely pleased. I'm not a big fan of trotting, but when she really rounds up and does it right, its a blast.

Last horse of the day was Papillon. I took her out into the field to trot. She was a lot hotter today than yesterday, which is how I like her. It probably helped that we were outside.

I forced her to walk around the field before we did anything. She needs a good warmup whether she likes it or not. She was a little over-reactive, but its her first time in the field for a while. I like riding Papillon because she always makes me feel very safe. She stays pretty round even when she's pissed, and that really helps.

Towards the end of the ride, I just couldn't help it, I had to ask for a little canter. So we cantered up the west side of the field. The first half was really nice. The second half she was trying to stare at something behind us, so that messed up her bend and she wouldn't give it back. We reached the curves and I had her walk. She was much calmer after a litte canter.

It was getting close to feeding time so I took her back. I love how easily she gets sweaty, and how white her mouth is after a ride. It makes me feel accomplished. Roberts always telling me, "Go out there and ride those horses and bring em' back wet."

(I got a pretty good sweat going on Colonel too but the wind and the sun dried it off. Oh well.)

With all that trotting I am starting to agree that the pommel on Robert's saddle is a little high. ;) Still, that pommel has saved my butt on more than one occasion, so I guess I can live with it. Plus, it reminds me to sit back on my seatbones. Speaking of such things, I've decided that my upper abs are clenched so tight that I cant straighten up effectively. So I'm working on relaxing those, thinking about keeping my chest nice and "open" and making sure my shoulders are sufficiently far back. (But still relaxed!)