Weekend Update with T. A. Eyo ¥

Step aside, Seth. I'm who the people want to see.

fight me, seth
It was a full weekend to say the least starting with a very cold and windy Saturday. The pasture didn't take too long due to the rain we received last week, but it was so cold that the horses didn't get turned out until right before I was done. When we did get them out, it was a bunch of running and bucking and carrying on as horses like to do. As much as I really didn't want to deal with a fresh horse, I sucked it up and did a short ride on Baby.

Fortunately, she was a steady Eddy, easy off the aids, forward, relaxed. These are really the best rides.

Quarter sheet??? In spring?? When will the lies end???
I took my double lessons today with Miss J. First was Leo at noon, then Corbin at 3:30.

I'd like to joke that Leo was being a speedy little lion today, but a lion can't compare to what he was doing. It wasn't too great from the start. He went to a show last weekend, but hadn't been ridden the rest of last week. I was on and walking around, attempting to push him forward, but he kept curling back and shortening his stride. Honestly, I wasn't going to fight him. My leg stayed on, and my reins stayed long; there's no point in forcing the contact.

The biggest focus was lengthening and shortening the stride at the trot and canter, which crosses some things off on My Maclay Challenge. The cantering was more of a very strong extended gallop for a couple of laps around the ring, and that carried over a bit into the jumping. He only slowed down when he was pooping on the approach, but we got the required seven strides, so holla. I actually jumped a 2'6" course for once in a very long time. It's mainly been individual large verticals thrown into 2' patterns for the past 6 months.

The cow is doing better than me
Corbin was somewhat similar but (surprisingly) more manageable than Leo today. Let me say this though: he's been upped to a slow twist and a running martingale, and we all know why he was upped to a slow twist and a running martingale, so when he continues to lack any sort of forward motion during our flatwork, I feel that it is necessary to remind him why he is now in a slow twist and a running martingale. Too bad horses don't understand human language.

I think today I encountered Corbinater 4.0: Junior Edition. A Corbinate specifically designed for the less experienced rider, gets them on the edge of their seat without being unseated. I prefer this gray area of Corbin between jumper and plodder. We got around everything okay, and I was pretty happy about not falling apart over every fence, which I tend to do when he gets fast.


Miss J asked if I wanted to jump the big oxer (I swear to God that thing was 3'6"), and she was being serious, however the lack of focus from my mount meant that we have to save it for another day.

I'm waiting.
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