Feel Good

Classes started up again almost a month ago at this point. Long story short, it's been a looong month. I went to the barn a couple weeks ago and just cried for the last portion of my drive because I felt so overwhelmed by work and school and life. It seems like everything is starting to hit now. Memories are starting to actually feel like memories. Lucie isn't coming back.

Blackjack and I are still getting to know each other, but it feels like an okay fit for now. I did have a conversation with my co-leasee and her mother, and Trainer G is open to finding a new horse, especially if both of us are still all in to lease. Both of us are genuinely struggling to feel attached to Blackjack. For me, it feels like more of an obligation and getting my money's worth. Even with another horse, it would likely be the same, but I do want to see this kid happy again. I also found out recently that she's very popular on Instagram, and a new horse would be a nice boost to her stats.

That was a joke.

I've only managed to have two rides on Blackjack outside of my first lesson, but I have been getting to the barn pretty regularly on Fridays. Last week, it was way too hot to ride comfortably. This week, the weather was picture perfect. His feet, on the other hand, were not. They grow like weeds, and he pretty easily managed to rip off a shoe sometime this week despite being almost exactly at week four of this cycle. Ugh, never thought I'd miss my mare's nightmare feet.

Random, tame duck showed up at the barn. They named her Daisy.

The two rides that we have had were both incredibly eye opening. The first time I rode him by myself, he was eager to move into my hands, and quickly at that. I appreciate a workman like attitude. The guidelines for riding him are as follows:

• Spend more time going to the right than the left in order to build his strength.
• Be pertinent about using my seat and leg to establish a good canter pace. He's too long and too soft in his mouth to get overly handsy. Seriously, his barreling, strung out canter is not fun guys.
• Pole work! Lots of it! It helps figure out how he approaches fences. Mostly just set him up right and stay out of his way.
• Lots of figure 8's too while asking him to bend through his whole body.

I pulled all of these into my next ride which was much longer. Aesthetically, it wasn't as pretty because he was a lot more distracted by horses and children running around. Not a big deal. We pushed through and he gave me some great moments. I also did a super helpful workout the evening before: 1 mile run followed by a 3x15 squats and lunges with push-ups in between each exercise. Was I sore? Yes. But was I much more balanced with a more open right hip? Yes. Did a man attempt to holla at me in the process? Also yes.

I'm still not thrilled with how I'm riding him. This bit is genuinely a point of contention, and I feel like my hands are way too active. Ideally, I don't want it to go past 30° relative to his mouth. It makes me feel icky.

she snipp

I should be having another lesson on him soon to try him out over fences. When that will happen depends entirely on my homework load over the next couple of weeks. I have my first big studio presentation next week plus have to hand hold a couple freshmen into their next studio presentation. And that's on top of, ya know, my day job and other classes. Hehe, grad school is very fun.