A new tune
So the switcheroo is almost complete (the waiver has to be signed and returned), but no complete barn and new pon pics until tomorrow. Sorry! I'm riding with Miss El at a facility nestled behind tranquil woodland. It's homey. I like it. Miss El and Lee are out at a show in Pennsylvania this week, but she squeezed me in for a lesson yesterday.
The rain forecast held off until later in the day, but the heat was there. The high was a whopping 95°F, and we were in the 80s by the time I was on. Not to mention the humidity was killer. It was a low stress workout.
The new mare, Music, hasn't been worked in a few years, except another girl who's been riding her weekly for just a couple of months, and now me riding twice a week. She's old, and she's opinionated . . . and she hates fly spray/the hose/any liquid that isn't in a bucket or falling from the sky. I am slowly winning her favor through treats and face rubs, which she really likes. She's not the biggest love bug, but she's what I'm working with.
We started out with the usual two point at the walk and trot with some circles in the corners. The idea during the warm-up was to get her to soften to the contact and maintain a steady pace. She's very responsive to seat and leg, which is nice, but, again, she's opinionated; the side that she likes to stay close to is the one with the trees. I got hit in the face multiple times.
Our walk and trot were pretty good once we got the pace and relaxation down. We did some trot poles which took a couple go throughs to perfect. When we went to canter, Miss S had me do so from a trot. We already had a long walk break, so when I asked Music to trot again, it wasn't nice and took a couple of circles to get in check. Pretty much the same thing happened in the canter, but it didn't take as long to correct. The right lead was better minus almost running into a jump standard. The biggest issue with the canter is that when a horse gets faster, my reaction is to sit back and deep to stay with them, but Music isn't in shape. Sitting heavy on her will 1) make her back sore and 2) put too much pressure on farther back areas, which, to her, mean to engage and move even more forward. So for now, I have to keep a lighter seat (not exactly a half seat, but not a full seat either), and just keep it together.
More to come tomorrow!
The rain forecast held off until later in the day, but the heat was there. The high was a whopping 95°F, and we were in the 80s by the time I was on. Not to mention the humidity was killer. It was a low stress workout.
The new mare, Music, hasn't been worked in a few years, except another girl who's been riding her weekly for just a couple of months, and now me riding twice a week. She's old, and she's opinionated . . . and she hates fly spray/the hose/any liquid that isn't in a bucket or falling from the sky. I am slowly winning her favor through treats and face rubs, which she really likes. She's not the biggest love bug, but she's what I'm working with.
We started out with the usual two point at the walk and trot with some circles in the corners. The idea during the warm-up was to get her to soften to the contact and maintain a steady pace. She's very responsive to seat and leg, which is nice, but, again, she's opinionated; the side that she likes to stay close to is the one with the trees. I got hit in the face multiple times.
Our walk and trot were pretty good once we got the pace and relaxation down. We did some trot poles which took a couple go throughs to perfect. When we went to canter, Miss S had me do so from a trot. We already had a long walk break, so when I asked Music to trot again, it wasn't nice and took a couple of circles to get in check. Pretty much the same thing happened in the canter, but it didn't take as long to correct. The right lead was better minus almost running into a jump standard. The biggest issue with the canter is that when a horse gets faster, my reaction is to sit back and deep to stay with them, but Music isn't in shape. Sitting heavy on her will 1) make her back sore and 2) put too much pressure on farther back areas, which, to her, mean to engage and move even more forward. So for now, I have to keep a lighter seat (not exactly a half seat, but not a full seat either), and just keep it together.
More to come tomorrow!
haha those sugar cube pics are adorable! boo to getting run through the trees, but Music sounds like an interesting horse to work with all the same !
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