Hot Hot Hot

Both the temperature and the Peebs have been hot lately.  It's been at or above 90 for almost a week now, and is expected to get to 105 this weekend.  Luckily I'll be in San Diego where its supposed to be cooler (seriously, WTF Oregon?!?).  Because of the heat, the plan was not to do a whole lot with Peebs.  But apparently the pony had other plans. 

Peebs no like draw reins.  Peebs no like having to use body correctly.

 He's been super wound up and somewhat explosive in the canter.  I rode with draw reins and the snaffle on Friday.  He was actually very good, if pissed.  We had probably some of our best canter work (minus one little buck) and I think all of our rides since then have been payback.  Saturday I was planning on jumping but he didn't want to settle and the couple fences we trotted were a battle.  He kept wanting to canter and was throwing his haunches way to the right.  Once we got a semi-decent trot fence I quit.

Sunday I was going on a field ride with my BO and a couple other boarders. I lunged Peebs before we left, but I think I could have lunged him twice as long as I did.  He was bucking and playing, completely full of energy.  He kept it together for most of the ride.  There was one moment where he saw something he didn't like and started going sideways.  Once we got a couple horses between him and the imaginary monster he was fine.  But it felt like if I put any leg on or asked anything of him he'd loose his mind.  Once we got back to the barn I did a little trot and canter to see if I could put his brain back.  That was a big fat NOPE.  He got more and more wound up before launching a big buck and going sideways.  I sat it but then got off and turned him out in the indoor.  He did run and play a bit more.

He got Monday off, and yesterday he wasn't too bad.  Still wants to get high in our canter work, but we stayed on a circle and my mantra was to sit down and keep my inside leg on to keep him straight. A big part of our problem right now is he wants to get crooked and weak, then scrambles and gets worried and I want to ride in a half seat with no leg.  I need to support him more, and he needs to get over my leg being on all the time. He hasn't yet figured out the difference between "go forward leg" and "hold yourself up leg", at least at the canter. Hopefully next week we can start getting some trainer rides for him and more lessons for me!

Brownie Points

 

Monday, the day after Peebs' throw down in the pasture, I cleaned his cuts out and reapplied antibiotic spray.  He then went out into the dry lot paddock McKenna was in last year, by himself.  I figure after the show next weekend we'll try turning him out with other ponies again.  No need to risk the chance of him getting hurt before that.  Well, anymore than he's horse and horses are prone to injury no matter what, especially before a show.

The best view

Tuesday I put him on the lunge line and he was incredibly lazy.  But sound.  Which is what that matters. Wednesday I rode in the arena for maybe 15 minutes, just a little walk trot canter to see how he felt.  He took maybe two off steps but otherwise felt pretty good. 

Also, lots of brownie point for not caring about getting sunscreen on his little nosie.

The fields across from the barn have been cut, but not baled yet.  We usually only ride out in the fields after they're baled, but I couldn't wait.  We walked out between the windrows and Peebs was foot perfect.  I was able to ride with one hand on the buckle and he marched along happy as can be.  His first ride out in the field, by himself no less, and he's great.  He earned mega brownie points for that.

Life

Why does life get in the way of everything? I've been so overwhelmed for the past week it's ridiculous. Except for a snowy trail ride (my first ride in the snow!) I haven't been able to ride in over two weeks.  Come hell or high water I'm riding both Bud and McKenna today!

Last Wednesday I took a ride in the frozen, snow covered fields with a couple other boarders. It was in the mid twenties and I couldn't feel my nose, ears, or toes by the end of the ride but it was awesome.   We just walked around for about a half hour, and it was magical.  Like something out of a movie. 

What was once our summer gallop track between the pastures

That beautiful sunset wasn't heating anything up

It finally started thawing Friday and warmed up enough to start working the horses again.  I lunged both Buddy and McKenna and they were wild.  I had to work over the weekend and was only able to lung both of them Saturday and Sunday.  My plan was to ride at least one of the them yesterday, but my barn owners are gone, so between chores and helping with the 4H ride I lost all my time and motivation to ride. But tonight's the night, especially since I have a lesson on McKenna tomorrow!

Take and Give

Had a lesson yesterday with Tia and while it started out good, we hit a bit of a bump towards the end of lesson. We worked over some solid 3' fences before disaster struck. It was mostly me picking at her and her getting mad at me.  My main problem is when I'm not sure of the distance I want to hold and mess with their mouths, and that never works.

We were going to a giant  3'3" oxer on a short diagonal off the right, Tia's hard side.  She wants to over bend and bulge thru the turn, thus throwing our distance off.  At first I was over correcting a little too much and holding her back resulting in a couple horribly short distances to the oxer.  Thank goodness Tia's so point and shoot that she'll just go from anywhere!  Jen wanted me to just let go and ride her forward to the fence but when I tried we felt so crooked and strung out I pulled her off the fence.  At that point Tia and I got into a little tug-of-war with her just wanting to go to the fence and me not.  When she gets mad, she hops up with her front end and has a pogo stick like canter.  It kind of reminded me of Phoenix when he was younger, if I picked too much at him he would suck back and have this itty bitty canter that went no where.

We took a walk break while Jen moved the fence down to a vertical and then went and worked on just having a nice rhythm and going to the fence.  It took a few tries, but once I figured out that all I needed to do was check her in the corner then relax and not touch her mouth, and was able to relax enough to let it happen, it went really well. The oxer went back up, but at 2'9" and we did it pretty well a few times.  Why is letting go so hard!?

Once we figured it out

Today I was going to do a light hack with Tia just to let her move around a bit.  I've started wearing my tall boots in preparation for the show and as I was zipping them up the zipper tab on my left boot broke.  It was about 90% up so I could ride in them, but I wasn't sure I could get them off.  Tia and I did about 15mins in the arena then headed out to the field for another 30mins of just walking.  She's pretty good by herself, as long as she could still see the other horses.  If we went too far out she'd try to turn back and head home.  Once we got back I was able to stick one finger inside my boot and work the zipper down so I could get it off.  There going to the boot repair guy as soon as I get off work!

They've lasted 7 years without a problem. Sadness.

Looking Forward

Not much has been going lately, but we're staring to look forward towards fall.  I rode Tia yesterday, did a little jump school in the sand arena then went on a field ride with some friends.  There's a section of land in the middle of the fields that has a holding pond for water used in a bean and corn processing plant. Worst smelling thing ever!!  They pump the used water out to the pond, then use it to fertilize a field of corn and grass.  Sheep are run in the grass field and usually the horses don't care about them.  Last night they were pretty close to the fence and half the flock ran away while the other half moved towards us.  Tia was terrified.  She stopped and snorted and was shaking.  I took her to the outside of group so she had two horses between her and the sheep and that seemed to help.  The rest of the ride was pretty uneventful.

Scary, scary sheep

Tonight I caught the end of Anna's lesson where they did a 2' vertical!  Apparently early in the lesson Phoenix stopped at it, but Jen said Anna had him trotting so slow they were almost going backwards.  They looked great when I was there and Anna was so proud of herself.  Nik and little A also had lessons which I missed but both apparently did well. 

We've been trying to find a schooling show on a Sunday to take the girls to, as little A goes to church on Saturdays.  There's one Oct 27 that we're going to aim for.  In the past they've had a costume class since the show is always right around Halloween.  So tonight I spent  a good amount of time trying to think of something for Buddy and I to be.  Since his show name is One Bud Wiser I've decided to go with a beer theme.  I found a beer glass costume for me and I think I'm going to make Buddy a keg (grey sleazy or sheet) with the Budweiser logo on it. 

I might be hand walking him for the class.  No drinking and riding!

"If She Gets Irritated, You're Doing it Right"

I had another lesson on Tia on Thursday since Buddy's still a little too foot sore to jump.  The theme was basically to do everything Tia doesn't like; moving her shoulder over, bending lines, and counter canter.  During our warm up we were able to get a lap around the field of counter canter each direction which is huge for her.  I think the fact that the field is so big helped, I was able to soften and widen the turns to help her keep the lead.  She didn't like it but got lots of pats and was told she's a good girl.

We warmed up trotting over a couple crossrails and it was ugly.  Tia is not at all impressed with trot fences and will wait till the last possible second then heave her body over them.  I had spurs on, and was trying as hard as I can to jumper her off my leg/spur but to no avail.  We gave up and cantered the x, working on getting her outside shoulder in and being straight.

From there we schooled the first part of the triple combo again working on making her go forward to the fence and keeping her body straight.  The first few times we were really crooked and I was having a hard time getting her right/outside shoulder to move around off my leg.  Jen said to really get after her with my spurs and to make sure I moved my body around the turn as well.  Once we got it, I could feel her get mad and she had this short, choppy stride.  The third element in the triple went up and once I had her straight and forward it rode really well.  Jen said it all, "If you feel her get irritated, you're doing it right but if you get irritated somethings wrong".

 A big part of the problem was the saddle.  Mine doesn't fit Tia who has huge withers and the saddle normally used on her is a Wintec all purpose, which I hate.  The flaps are long and it has big knee rolls that made me pinch with my knee and made me unable to really put my calf on her.  To get my calf on her, I had to turn my toe way out and take my knee completely off the saddle.  Jen and I talked and we're going to raid the tack room and see if we can either make my saddle work with creative padding and/or trying some other saddles.

After the triple we moved on to an outside line in a short three, provided that I came in with enough pace.  Tia's deceptive, she had a big stride but lacks impulsion and tends to get strung out.  I had to have her up and bouncy coming into the line, then just steady her for the three.  Unfortunately because of the saddle I kept getting jumped out of the tack over the oxer.  I couldn't get up out of the saddle as much as I would have liked, and Tia's jump would end up launching me.  I felt so bad because I was popping her in the mouth no matter what but she didn't seem to mind. Thank goodness for school horses with iron mouths, right?

We then did a bending line from a diagonal vertical to the oxer that ended up being more of a S curve than bending line.  I had to take the first fence on an angle, left to right, going really deep then moving her left shoulder over. The first few times we just did the first fence to make her get it, as she was sure we were asking the impossible.  Tia has a lot of really nice training on her, is the perfect hunter, but can not stand jumps on angles, rollbacks, and other jumpery things.

The red crossrial was our first fence in the bending line, only it was a vertical.

To make it to the oxer I had to swing out to the right then straighten her up and move forward to it.  We were getting stuck during a lead change and kept getting awkward spots to the oxer which didn't help with my getting jumped out of the tack at all. Jen put down a canter pole next to the oxer and had us go over that instead to find the rhythm and get her moving forward.  After a few times Tia seemed to figure it out and we went back to the oxer. We were able to nail it, and got a nice line with a forward ride to the oxer.  We ended there since she was getting tired and had tried really hard.

Good Times All Around

Despite the tension/drama in the barn after 4H Fair, both Anna and I had great lessons yesterday.  Anna's still nervous about cantering/jumping Phoenix since she was bucked off a few months ago but is slowly making progress.  They worked on transitions, trot poles, and finding a rhythm. Jen was having Anna count out loud while cantering around and relaxing into him.  It worked because by the end of the lesson Anna was cantering cross rails!! 


I love how soft and relaxed her hand is!



 

Buddy was convinced he shouldn't have to work for my lesson and was pretty lazy during our warm up.  We had to do the same 3 stride line from last week, but they jumps were tiny.  Bud put no effort into them and I was chasing him down the line. We almost took out one of the barn cats too, she kept walking around the jumps and at one point was winding herself around Buddy's legs as I stopped to talk to Jen.

His not impressed face

We then worked on a triple Jen had had me set up; a two to a two.  We started with the first two fences and once we got that Jen added the third.  Again, Buddy lacked motivation coming into the line but it still flowed really well.  Jen had me take a single fence before going to the line to help with our rhythm but I don't think it really did that much good.

Jen took some video with her phone, and of course that time Buddy decided to forget about his lead changes.  We went back and fixed them then called it quits.

We're going to try again to do a lesson on the school horse mare next week since the farrier wasn't able to get out to do her feet in time.


Time Off All Around

After my marathon 12 days at work, I'm off for 9 days!  I will be helping out at the 4H fair Mon-Wed but sleeping in yesterday and today was glorious!  Add in lots of pony time and I'm already feeling back to normal.

I managed to make my lesson on Thursday.  Buddy has had basically a week and half off with just a couple quick rides after our last show.  He felt lazy warming up, but was great when we started jumping.  We've moved the jumps out to the grass field and it's so nice to have so much space to ride in.  There's a couple slick spots, even with studs, but we didn't push it or try to take any crazy tight turns.  The few little issues we had were minor and easily fixed; like closing my hip angle to encourage him down the line, or committing to a straight line when taking another fence on an angle.

Bud will probably get some easy rides this week, depending on what the fair schedule is like. I am going to take a lesson on Friday, probably on one of the school horses who I can jump up a bit.  Jen suggested riding her since she's so push button and I can focus on me over the big 3'+ fences and not worry.  The only catch is that the mare lost the pads on her shoes but the farrier is supposed to come on Wednesday to fix that.

Summer Lovin'

They finished the fences on the pastures yesterday and started mowing the grass field.  Today almost all the ponies went out in the pastures, and most of them are staying out for the summer.  Buddy will start staying out tomorrow but Phoenix still has to get acclimated.  I'm hoping to get Phoenix out full time by this weekend.

Phoenix says "Hi"

I rode Buddy today and he felt good. I'm glad his soreness was just ouch feet and the shoes fixed it.  There were a few fences set up, and since he felt good I decided to jump a bit.  I don't know if it was the grass or the shoes or whatever, but he nailed it.  Almost every fence I was able to sit back and wait for the distance.  It felt awesome!  We didn't do a whole lot since he was so good.

To cool out I took him for a "walk" in the field.  As soon as we headed out, he started trotting and prancing.  He calmed down once we were out in the field.  We did a full circuit then walked down the lane between the paddocks.  Last year this is where we did our canter sets, since it's on a slight incline.  As soon as we got to the gates at the end to turn around, Bud started jumping around again.  Somebody remembers galloping up the hill!  I made him stand and wait (and to take a pic) then we trotted up the hill.  He had an amazing extended trot up the hill; it felt just like the one we had in our dressage lesson. 

A couple weeks of trot sets up the hill then it's canter set time!

Being a bad blogger

Not much has happened this week.  Had a couple ok rides on Bud.  I worked him in the draw reins again on Wednesday and he was better.  Still not great, and still resistant to the left but I was able to see some improvement. By the end of our ride I was able to drop the draw reins and he would carry himself at the trot nicely both directions. 

Tuesday I had my last field ride with Zoe.  There were some x-rails set out that we worked over, and I ended up giving Anna and Phoenix a little lesson.  I've been pleasantly surprised with how sound Phoenix has been and he looked great working out on the grass. 

Yesterday it started raining, so we brought all the ponies in for the winter.  Luckily I only had to do a half day at work, so I was able to make it out to the barn by 1 to bring them in.  Phoenix and Zoe were utterly offended at being out in the rain.  Both of the trotted up to the gate to come in and Zoe was nickering the whole time.  Buddy could have cared less and seemed offended that he was left in.  I put coolers on all of them for a couple hours and gave each a pile of hay.  We got a new load of timothy this week, and it's super rich.  I'm slowly starting to wean them on it so hopefully no one gets colicky! 

Once I had their coolers on, I realized that I have bought the boys matching black ones with blue trim.  Wasn't my intention and I'm slightly embarrassed. 

Buddy

Phoenix....he makes the 10x14 stall look tiny

Catching Up

I haven't ridden much this past week.  One of my coworkers has been out for 3 weeks due to a sprained foot and I've been working a lot more (11 days in a row) to make up.  I've just been way too tired to do anything with the ponies besides grain them after work.  I did lunge Bud on Monday and did a quick bareback ride on Thursday.  Thankfully my boss gave me Friday, Saturday, and Sunday off!

Yesterday I took Bud out to the field planning to do a quick ride and maybe pop over a couple fences.  He was slow to warm up again, but once we started jumping he was great!  I had to push him and really get him in front of my leg to the smaller fences but after I reset some up higher he turned into a go pony.  I set 3 fences at 2'9", one Swedish oxer and two verticals.  We worked on some turns and rollbacks, and he felt great.  I did have to sit and pull him together thru the turns, but he moved right up to each fence and gave me every lead change I asked for.  I can really feel him starting to sit on his haunch and use himself more over the bigger fences and it feels like he's having a lot of fun.  It was exactly the kind of ride we both needed after a hard week!

Reset Ride

For the past few weeks, Buddy and I have picked little fights with each other and just not connecting.  It felt like all the work we've done last winter and spring has disappeared.  He's been hollow, behind my leg, we can't find distances to the jumps, and just generally butting heads on everything. 

Normally I would think he's sore, or had sometime of body issues but he was checked by the chiropractor a few weeks ago, and was declared fine (if a touch thin) so I can rule out body issues.  He had his feet done the day after the chiropractor and while I wasn't there, my farrier didn't leave any word that anything was wrong, so again I can rule his feet out.  I will admit that I haven't been spending as much time with him lately as I usually do and I know he can get snarky after time off. 

On Wednesday I took him out the grass field to jump.  He was pretty lazy to start but I had a dressage whip and after a couple whacks he started moving better.  We actually warmed up pretty nicely and trotted a few little fences before tackling a couple bigger ones.  Bud tried to rush a couple of them, so tried to stop and back him after the jumps.  This is where things started to go wrong.  He threw a fit about having to back.  I'm glad no one was close enough to see because it was ugly.  Head up and swinging side to side, mouth gaping, me cussing him and trying my hardest to back him up.

Since I couldn't get him to back, I thought, well we can go forward. I made him gallop around the field  and then used our momentum to try a couple fences again.  He was better, still fighting me but waiting to jump.  I walked him for a bit, then tried one last jump and got a nice stop and back after.  I called it quits with that.

Yesterday I hopped on him bareback for a quick hack around the sand arena.  He was so good!  Trotted nicely and actually offered to canter before I asked.  He was more round and connected than he's been lately and was softer in my hand.  I'm hoping that our nasty ride reset everything and I'll have my regular Bud Bud back!

Up in the Air

I'm supposed to take Zoe to a little hunter show on Saturday, so of course she pulled her shoe today.  I rode her Monday, just worked on transitions and going forward.  Someone had set up a couple sets of trot poles so we worked over those.  At first she was pretty confused about where to put her feet and kept trying to either jump them or canter over them. I channeled what we worked on in our lesson last week; keeping my hand up and having a nice steady rhythm.  She finally figured it out and after a couple nice times thru I let her quit.

There's a farrier who supposed to come out tomorrow (not my normal guy) and Rick's going to ask if he can put the shoe back on.  If he can, and she feels good we'll go on Saturday.

Wiggle Worm

I had a lesson on Zoe tonight, and she was a total wiggle worm.  I pulled her out right at dinner time and she was pacing back in forth in the cross ties while we were tacking up.  She was pretty forward in our warm up, and kept trying to pop her shoulders both directions.

We started jumping over a couple x's, working on me riding her from my leg/seat to my hands and keeping her straight.  Jen had me go deep and a really leg yield her off my left leg to try and straighten her out. Zoe wanted to go any direction except forward. It felt like anytime I touched her with my right leg she would just blow out my left aids and go sideways. We probably did that x a dozen time before we finally got it. 

After a walk break, we went back to the x but added a vertical 8 strides away.  The first time she was a little confused about going to the second fence, and we got an awkward half stride where she had to launch over the second fence.  The second time thru was better; I just have to remember to immediately pick her up on the landing side of the first fence and ride her forward to the second.  We did the line a couple times before moving on to another line. 

I had to ride her pretty forward to the first fence.  Again she was wiggly to the first fence and I had to keep my seat on her to help keep her straight. She jumped the first fence pretty big (for her) and I had to scramble to put her back together for the second fence.  We got a short 7 but the next time thru was much better and we got the correct 6 strides. Once I remember to package her and ride her forward she really starts to open up and feels much nicer.

We'll keep working on putting line together since that seems to be her weak spot.  I've decided to take her to a little hunter show next Saturday, probably our last for the season.  We'll do the 2' long stirrup again.  I was given a video camera that needs a new battery, so hopefully I'll get one before the show!

Gymnastic Fun

A couple weeks ago I stumbled upon this site, Get My Fix.  Their 5-minute clinic section (while not having been updated recently) has some great articles.  I've bookmarked the one on grids.  Today I decided to set up Amy Millar (Captain Canada's Ian Millar's daughter) basic trot grid.

After warming Bud up on the flat, I started with a single x-rail trotting it back and forth trying to have a strong trot and make him canter away from it.  He was a bit behind my leg and lazy so I had to go to my crop a few times to help wake him up.  We started the grid with 3 ground poles to a vertical.  I tried to stay out of his way, but again Buddy was lazy.  I remembered what I learned all those months ago at the Kevin Freeman clinic about keeping my hands up and really making Buddy work to the base of the fence.  Worked like a charm! 

After a couple times thru I added the two stride to the oxer.  Let's just say I'm glad no one was around to see our first time thru.  Buddy was way backed off and had to take a flying leap over the oxer.  I just grabbed mane and tried to give him his head and not catch him in the mouth.  The second time thru I sat deep and pushed him thru the 2.  After that Bud seemed to get it and it rode well; I could concentrate on my position and not have to worry about the distances.

Adding the last vertical challenged us.  By this point Bud was getting tired, and not wanting to trot in well.  I had to go to my crop at the base of the first fence and push more thru the grid. We only did the full grid twice before I called it quits.  I didn't want to push him too hard, and I felt like one decent time thru was all we were going to get today.  Hopefully I can set up more of the grids before it starts to rain again and we can't use the fields.

Easy Week

The ponies have had a pretty easy week.  There's a 17yr old FFA girl from L.A. whose been coming out the the barn the past week to learn about horses and an actual farm.  She said there is only handful of FFA kids in L.A., and no real farms down there and she wants to learn as much as she can.  She's the niece of a friend of Jen's, so Jen has been bringing her out and giving her lessons on Buddy. 

Kylie's had a little bit of riding experience, but so far she's doing really well. She's got him cantering, but they still need to work a bit on steering.  Today she and I took Bud and Zoe out for a long trail ride thru the grass seed fields.  I haven't ridden Zoe since the show, but she was great on the trail.  At one point, we went past an old run down house and barn that's been taken over by blackberries and Buddy refused to go forward.  He's been past the house many times, but today I had to grab his reins and pony him off of Zoe till we got past it.  Then he was fine and went wherever Kylie wanted.  Silly boy!

We've also been repainting some of the jumps.  We've got some of the 4H girls to help, so it's been going pretty fast.  Kylie is a bit of an artists, so she's going to paint some flowers and vines on one of our plank jumps.  Hopefully she'll finish that tomorrow!

What we've done so far!  I really like the red and black standards.

Good news!

I took Phoenix in to see Dr. Ben today, and after looking at his leg Ben agreed with me saying it could be fractured and that we needed x-rays.  Luckily Phoenix was cooperative and we didn't have to sedate him.  Ben took 3 views, and they showed nothing, no fractures or chips.  There is still some soft tissue swelling and Ben gave me Surpass cream to put on it once a day.  We also got the ok to do some walking under saddle and we'll see how he's doing after a week.

I had a lesson tonight on Zoe, and little mare was awesome!  We warmed up in the sand arena, them moved to the grass to jump.  They were harvesting the grass seed field directly behind the grass arena but Zoe didn't care at all.  After a couple warm up fences, Jen had us start working a little hunter course.  I really need to make sure to keep my inside leg on and push her out thru the turns.  She really likes to drop her inside shoulder. 

We ended by schooling a bending line, her first.  I had to really drive her to the first fence and ask for a lead change over it which didn't go so well.  We schooled the change a couple times but Zoe was getting tired and once we got it we quit.  We ended up doing the line on the wrong lead, but it was nicely balanced and we got a decent distance to the second fence.  What I love most about Zoe is even when she doesn't know exactly what I want, she tries so hard.  She also seemed pretty proud of herself too!

Lazy Sunday

After running around at fair Mon-Wed, then busting my butt at work Thurs-today, I didn't have the energy to do much with Bud today.  It's cooler than it has been, so I had the engery to move the jumps around in the field to a somewhat hunterish course.  But by the time I tacked up, my motivation was gone. Bud and I went out and just played around on the flat then took a nice long walk around the field.  He didn't seem to mind an easy day!

I took Zoe out for her first jump school in the field yesterday.  I've ridden her on the flat out there a couple times before.  Again, the whole no fence line thing came into play; she really wants to pop her right shoulder and not pick up her left lead. She was better once we started going over fences, but we still have problems getting her to open up her stride and move up to a distance.  I haven't been using spurs, but I think I will next time.  We kept getting a shorter waiting distance, which now that the fence are going up doesn't always work.  I did take her over her first 2'6" fence, and she hit it pretty hard her first time.  The second time, she really sat back on her hind end and made it over fine.  I'm so proud of her!

Lesson on the Grass

Our lesson on Friday kicked my butt!  After trotting a couple fences to warm up, we started working on a bending line going to the left.  Since there's no rail to guide us, Buddy really wanted to hold the right bend and throw his haunches to the right.  Needless to say, we had a hard time getting a nice distance to the first fence.  Jen had me go back and work on a circle for a few minutes, spiraling him out and having me really sit deep.

Once we had a bend we went back to the line. I could get the first fence, but would loose the bend and rhythm to the second fence.  At this point Buddy was getting pretty pissed and reluctant to go forward. I really had to sit down and get after him.  We nailed the line once, and called it good.

After a walking/water break Jen had us change it up and do a fun, twisty course.  Buddy was much happier!  The course involved a couple tight rollback, taking an oxer on an angle and a long gallop uphill. We were able to do it pretty well right off the bat, but had a little trouble on the rollback to the angled oxer.  Buddy was tired by this point, and doing a tight turn uphill wasn't something he wanted to do.  We went back and schooled that turn a few times, and on our last attempt, about 2 strides from the oxer I bridged my reins and hauled off and nailed him with my crop.  Boy that got his attention!  He moved forward to the long spot and cantered off in front of my leg .  We decided to quit with that.

Poor tired pony!

Finally!!

The weather gods have decided to finally allow summer to grace Oregon.  It's been hot (90* today) for us, so I've been a little lax on working the ponies.  Zoe pulled a shoe, but hopefully one of the other farriers who comes to the barn can put it back on tomorrow. 

Rick mowed the fields yesterday, so today I convinced my parents who are up visiting to help me move the jumps out.

 I've saved some old courses from shows, and found a couple online so today I set up an eq course that looked fun.

I took Bud out to the field tonight, and he was pretty distracted during our warm up.  Every time we passed the gate, he would pop his outside shoulder, drift toward the gate, and slow way down.  I kept my crop in my outside hand, popped him a couple times, and we worked a lot on transitions and turns, trying to keep his attention on me.  Once we started jumping, he seemed to focus more. I kept the jumps small, just some x's and 2' verticals.  I tried to focus on having a nice rhythm and keeping him straight. I know I was holding him a bit, but the more I jump out there the more I will relax.  I have a lesson on Friday so that should really help.