Getting to know your Thoroughbred Mare

We're coming up to two months with Miss Lucie, so I figured it was time to actually delve in and share more about her.

The obvious: she's a mare, she's gray, and she's huge. Basically Summer with tinier legs.

She also rides pretty similar to Summer as well despite being a touch dead to my leg. Her walk and trot are pretty consistent. I could definitely get a bigger step out of her at both gaits, but she's starting to get a lot softer in her mouth. The BO also mentioned that she tends to get stiff behind, but the more consistently she's taken out, the better she gets. I've introduced polework and a lot of direction changes as well, and that seems to have her moving more energetically with a lot less influence from me.

Her canter is . . . a trip. She hasn't been consistent, although part of that is likely due to stiffness, being out of shape, and getting kicked the second week I went out to ride her. Her canter is where she gets more like Summer because she just hangs. Lucie very much struggles to carry herself for longer periods of time and becomes a freight train after more than two laps. Then after I bring her back to the trot and try to hold things together, she's too worked up and takes even more time to relax before I ask again. Cantering earlier on in the ride and for shorter periods of time has helped. I've also integrated the teeniest, tiniest bit of transition work, and I'll probably start adding more.

We're still learning personal space

Personality wise . . . she's needy. Both her and her stall mate Molly are the most attention hungry horses I've ever met. Also, despite being mostly level headed, the Thoroughbred pops out every once in a while and she'll lose her mind at absolutely nothing. She already managed to break a set of cross ties under my watch.

I really do like this horse. We clicked from the trial, and I actually cancelled with the other show jumper because I was already set. So, welcome, Lucie :)