Your Monthly Update

I didn't really mean to go almost a month with out blogging, oops!  Not a whole lot has happened, good rides and bad rides, some good lessons and some not so good lessons, some very grown-up big kid work out the mare, some complete baby moments where she lost her mind. 

I'm a big kid now...maybe

We had one lesson where my fear and insecurity took control.  Mare felt spooky and was convinced she had to run in one particular spot in the ring.  It was tracking left, as we came around a corner and went on the rail between a jump on the quarter line and the arena fence.  Every single time she'd drop her butt, throw her head, and try to leap forward.  I regressed to a complete beginner, including curling up in the fetal position while grabbing her mouth, thinking we were going to die.  My trainer ended up hand walking us around the ring till I was completely mortified and calmed down.  We did eventually manage to trot twice around the arena without any hysterics on both the mare's and my part before calling it a day.  The big thing that helped, when I remembered, was to breathe and not grab her face when she wanted to explode.  If I let her go a stride or two without getting on her case, she would stop on her own.  It's just so very hard to break that instinct to hold on for dear life.

Soon after that lesson her favorite spot to spook became next to the tree of doom!!!

But since then, minus the spooking at the tree of doom, we've had a couple good lessons.  We've set up placing poles before and after the jumps to help slow the mare down and make her think instead of just hauling ass to and away from the jumps. I'm splitting my rides between the jump and dressage saddles but I think McKenna's learned that the jump tack = jumping = fun! so I'm going to do more flat work/non jumping rides in the jump saddle.  Have to mix it up and keep her on her toes.  We've had some nice dressage work and got our first steps of actual leg yield in the trot going left.  Hopefully in the next month we'll be able to have a lesson with TS and continue on.

It always makes me laugh looking at his big belly and super long stick legs. He really should be hand shorter than he is.

Phoenix is very fat and very happy. I've been out to see him a few times but hadn't run into PO for awhile till this weekend.  She apologized for getting my horse fat but I'd rather him be that way than skinny, especially at 20. I talked with her about cutting back his feed and poor pony is only going to be getting half the alfalfa he was getting before.  I'm such a mean mommy.