Back to Work

I got back from San Diego on Saturday and went immediately to the barn.  To be fair it's on my way home and I only live 8mins from the barn.  I checked on all the ponies and gave all 3 treats.  Sunday I free lunged Zoe and planned to do a light hack with Bud. 

Jen was giving lessons and I rode around the other girls.  They were doing a a little course and she told me to join in.  We only worked on a couple fences, as I didn't want to interrupt the lessons and since Bud hadn't been ridden in a week.  We did a single diagonal fence, right to left, then a fairly snug rollback to a single on the outside going downhill.  I was holding Buddy a bit too much to the first fence, trying to keep him packed so we could make the turn and Jen got after me about it.  Once I let go and moved him up a bit it flowed much better and we were able to get a better turn. I think my biggest goal right now should be to stop picking at my horse and learn to ride the more forward pace.

Monday I was motivated after work so I rode both Zoe and Bud.  I haven't ridden Z in almost 3 wks, so I lunged her before getting on.  She was surprisingly good, both on the lunge and under saddle.  She had a couple little fits where she would put her head down and shake it while doing a mini crow hop, but after the first time I was prepared and it amused me more than annoyed.  We just worked on going forward and being straight at the canter and didn't do a whole lot since she's been out of work. 

I put the western saddle on Bud and channeled my inner reiner.  We worked on transitions and his stops.  There is something so fun about cantering down the long side as fast as you can and then sitting deep and saying whoa and having them stop.  Buddy doesn't have a sliding stop, but  he can stop pretty quick when he wants to.  We also did some lead changes and I rode most of the time with only one hand (a big step for me). 

Yesterday I gave Bud the day off and rode Zoe again, with the plan to pop her over a couple fences.  She warmed up well, and didn't have any tantrums.  I had just started going back and forth over a cross rail when I head a loud pop coming from the field behind the barn.  It's goose hunting season and there was someone shooting in the far field. I rode for another few minutes, but every time I heard a shot go off it freaked me out till I finally quit.  Zoe couldn't have cared less, but I had the willies.  The few jumps we did were good and I got a nice lead change out of her so at least we ended on a good note.