Half and Half

We had our first lesson in a few weeks on Thursday.  While I say it was a good lesson, we definitely had some awful moments.  Peebs started out pretty quiet and relaxed, popping over a warm up cross rail like it was nothing.  We moved on to a couple of the lines set up, a short five on the outside and then a forward bending four strides.  It took me a couple tries to figure out how much to hold in the 5, and then what line to take for the four, but both were pretty much non-issues. It was more of fine tuning everything, which is a nice feeling to have instead of hoping and praying you'll make it down the line.

Single diagonal on a short approach going left to right - should have been our hardest fence but was the easiest

 We then did a rollback from a diagonal fence to an single on the outside.  It was a right turn, our hard way, and we had to canter up the outside to the single, something Peebs has historically wanted to run at.  He was surprisingly good; I was able to get the lead over the diagonal and while he was strong going up to the single he waited and listened to me.   After a little walk break trainer wanted me to combine the bending line with the rollback and this is where the wheels fell off. Peebs woke up and wanted to run and not turn in the bending line, way overbending his neck and throwing his shoulders to the right.  We also had some impressive head tossing involved. I made the decision to trot in and trot out of the line because no one wants to deal with a pony running sideways.  Trainer also put out two placing poles to help keep Peebs straight, which we might have jumped over a time or two when we did a drive by of the second fence.

Thank god for standing martingales!

Once we kinda sorta got the bending line refigured out, I added the rollback and Peebs once again decided that he couldn't horse.  Wouldn't give me the right lead over the diagonal, wanted to run at the second fence.  So again, he got brought back to the trot and we halted on a straight line after the second fence.  We ended the lesson on the pink fences above, which we had already jumped in our warm up.  He was ok about running after it, even though it was up the long side on the right lead. Our last time he offered a lead change but only got the front end, then scared himself when he was crossfiring.  But I was able to do a simple change and canter on quietly.

While the second half of the lesson was crappy, I was happy with how I handled it.  Even a month or so ago I would have frozen up and gotten scared with the head tossing and going sideways, or the running up the long side on the right.  I don't like when Peebs does those things, but I can handle them now.  We were able to work through them without getting into a fight, or me giving up, or trainer having to put the fences down to teeny tiny jumps or just poles. Yay for progress!

She is Herself

In the days after Phoenix was put down I was pretty numb. I had things planned and friends to take me out, but all I wanted was time alone with my horse. I wanted to just sit in the saddle, dink around, and generally not do a whole hell of a lot. I got on McKenna three or four days after that day and I know I can't expect that kind of ride out of her. She's just not that type of horse, especially after almost a week off at that point. But I had a lesson scheduled for the next day and figured I should maybe prep for it.

I turned her out while I did her stall and then lunged her before getting on. She didn't play as much as she usually does and was actually really quiet on the lunge line. I got on thinking that maybe, just maybe, on the day I needed it most she would be that quiet easy ride. We walked around on the buckle and picked up a pretty poky trot. She was soft in my hand, just putzing along and I started to relax. Then we came around the corner and she took off like a bat out of hell. We circled back around at the walk and again she bolted out of the corner. Brought her down again and came back to it and she started to go up. I called her some very, very bad names and jumped off. Put her back on the line where she proceeded to try and relive her racing days. I'm not proud of it, but I might have let my anger and grief get to me and chased her a bit with the lunge whip. 

She ran for a solid 15mins and ended up blowing and covered in sweat. Some part of me was grateful that I had clipped her the week before but most of me was furious that she wasn't Phoenix. The ONE day I needed an easy ride and she turns into crazy mare. Luckily the fury had me fired up and not in tears so I got back on and proceeded to immediately put her to work. Lateral work, transitions, changes of direction, serpentines, circles....you name it we did it. It wasn't our best work ever but I got a good 20mins w-t-c out of it. 

Over the past few weeks we've had some good rides and some like the ones above. It still saddens me that she's not Phoenix or Buddy, that she's not the solid broke horse that can take care of me when I need it most. After having her for two years I would have thought we would be past this point. But it has cemented the fact that I want her gone; that she's NOT the horse for me. I have been going back and forth because she is an awesome horse but not MY awesome horse.  I've come way down in her price, basically taking offers at this point. I do have two people wanting to see her this weekend, one of which is my friend's student which would be great because I'd could keep tabs on her. 

It's weird thinking that I won't have a horse of my own once she sells. I've either leased or owned a horse for almost 16yrs straight, and 6 of those I had multiple horses at a time. I still have goals and want to show; I don't want to take a break even if part of me thinks I should. But I need something more like Buddy or Phoenix. I need that steady eddy, not a wild child. 

Happy F-ing Mother's Day

I find it fitting that I so completely pissed of my pony on Mother's Day she had a tantrum of epic proportions.  She was acting like a total teenager and was in a snit our whole ride but instead of making me upset I was able to laugh it off.

We attempted to canter but it was more flailing and leaping

I haven't done much with McKenna this week.  We were supposed to have a lesson on Tuesday but she was just so slightly off.  The inside of her left front shoe had slipped a little, creating a tiny gap between it and her hoof.  Trainer thought that there were some pebbles/sand stuck in the crack making her sore.  The farrier was already scheduled for Thursday so the mare got a few days off till her shoe could get reset. Just to be safe the farrier took the hoof testers to her, but she didn't react at all and when I lunged her afterwards she looked normal.

Friday she got lunged as I was completely exhausted after a long work week and barely had the energy to clean my stall and feed. We did have a pretty decent ride Saturday considering she hadn't been ridden since Monday.  McKenna was full of energy, but it was controllable.  Lots of transitions, lots of circles, lots of keeping my calm and focus and riding her through it.

 

The dressage bridle I ordered came this week so I decided to test it out today.  I really just wanted to try the flash, as McKenna like to grab anything that comes into range of her mouth and stick her tongue out when she's upset or doesn't like something.  When I first got on I could feel her confusion about the flash; she attempted some head tossing and shaking but seemed ok with it.  During our trot work she would get upset mostly during changes of direction/bend and try to open her mouth, hit the flash, and then fling her head.  She wasn't super bad and it was easy to ride past it so I kept going. 

About five strides into our first canter she gave me the equine middle finger and took off. Her head was as high as my martingale would allow, she had the bit between her teeth, and I had very little brakes.  I pretty much had to run her into the wall to get her to stop.  She's taken off with me before, but it's always been an "I'm so full of energy and baby OTTB" explosion involving some bucks and/or leaps. This was an "I'm pissed off and f-you bitch" type of take off. She had let her inner witchy mare come out to play and she's never done that with me.  I got off and took of the flash and she immediately rubbed her nose on the wall of the arena. 

I got back on but she was having none of it. She would hop up and down in the canter, try to take off in the trot, way over bend and go sideways when I asked for leg yield, and almost ran my leg into the wall multiple times.  We did another 20minutes or so and I just asked for some nice, soft work but she was beyond reason.  We finally quit with some somewhat relaxed walk leg yields.  So note to self: The mare does not like flashes and we'll probably never rock a figure 8 in the jumper ring.

To the Left, to the Left

Sorry if that song is now stuck in your head but it's been stuck in mine all weekend so I thought I'd share the wealth!  I had a last minute dressage lesson Friday night where we focused on all things left.  Mainly getting McKenna off my left leg and moving more into my right rein.

Looks almost like a legit dressage pony

I might have had an impulse eBay buy that came Friday morning.  I found a good deal on a barely used Collegiate dressage saddle that I put a low ball offer in that won. TS checked the fit of it before my lesson and it actually fits McKenna pretty darn well.  TS recommended some reflocking in the future, after the mare finishes growing/filling out but the Ogilvy helps for now. I did have to punch a couple holes in the stirrup leathers it came with, but being a shorty I'm used to it.  I do have a black dressage bridle on the way because I hate mixing brown and black tack.

As for the lesson, we only did walk-trot but it was some of the best and hardest work we've had yet.  TS was really getting after me about not getting after McKenna.   I'm being too easy on the mare and it's time to up the ante. We really focused on our leg yields going left.  The mare absolutely doesn't want to move off my left leg, or will move her shoulders but not her hind end.  I was given a dressage whip and told to lightly tap her with it.  McKenna had the predicted melt down, "OH MY GOD MOM IS BEATING ME!!!!!!!!" but after a couple half hearted hops up and down she gave it up and went back to work. I was really happy with the fact that she could come back to work after losing her little pony brain. That almost felt better than the leg yields we ended with!

Nom nom time

She got the day off Saturday to think about what she learned, then we went right back to it on Sunday.  I didn't drill the leg yields as much as we had in the lesson, and I didn't get the whip out, but we still had some good work.  I also cantered in the dressage saddle for the first time and holy crap do I love it!  I could actually SIT ON MY HORSE during our canter, wrap my legs around her, and not perch on her back.  It felt like I was cantering bareback.  I am so so so happy with my impulse buy!

All The Poles

I'm apologizing in advance for big pics with no captions. Blame mobile blogger. Also pics are from last week as there's no photographic proof of my lesson.

After last weekend's canter pole excitement I was determined that we could show off our fancy new skills in our lesson this week. Unfortunately right as my lesson started it began to rain and we had to move inside. While McKenna is normally better behaved inside (not as many distractions and/or spooky things), doing poles/jumps inside tends to make her more nervous. 

I had warmed up prior to trainer's arrival so we trotted a lap or two while she set poles (one on each long side) for us. We started cantering just one of them and halting on a straight line. Mare got a bit strong but after she bumped her nose into the wall she realized stopping was a good thing. We then moved on to cantering a circle after the pole really exaggerating the bend because she was convinced she was a motorcycle.

After we proved we could go both ways trainer used our little rail raisers and put one of the poles up to 1' and told me to go for it. Our first canter fence! McKenna didn't realize "the jump went up" and demolished it the first time. But after that she was foot perfect. 

Towards the end of the lesson she had a tantrum because she was tired and done. She started flinging her head and her bonnet was flapping up and down. It was pretty funny and distracted me from gettting mad or picking a fight with her about her head. I was told to just stay steady and ride her through it and she finally quit. 

Proving Me Wrong

For the past couple of weeks McKenna and I have had problems cantering.  She either gets hoppy in the trot and tries to canter when I don't want her to, or won't go when I ask.  When I can get her into it, especially to the left, she braces against my inside aids and twists her head to the outside.

Yesterday our ride was one of our worst yet.  I had lunged her for a while, then set out some trot poles.  When I got on she was distracted and antsy.  We started with some walk trot transitions and every time I would ask for the trot she'd flip her head up and jump forward.  So we did many, many transitions.  Once she would go forward nicely we went back to the 10 posting 10 sitting exercise we did in our last lesson. When I went to sit, she'd get hoppy and try to jump into the canter.  I also did lots of circles and changes of direction to keep her guessing but she never really settled.

We took a walk break and as we came around a corner she took off across the diagonal bucking.  She's given me some mini bucks before, but this was way different.  I thought I was coming off, but managed to yank her head up and get her stopped.  I immediately asked her to back and I could tell that she knew she was in trouble.  I walked her forward until she kind of relaxed then got off and lunged her.  She ran, and bucked, and ran some more.  Once she finally was dragging her head I got back on her.  We finished with more trot transitions and some sitting trot.

I sent a somewhat desperate text to my trainer last night asking for a lesson this week as well as making a chiropractic appointment for both McKenna and Buddy for Tuesday.   I want to make sure that she's not acting out because she's in pain.

Today when I rode, after a lot of lunging, I had no expectations.  There was a horse being lunged at one end of the ring and another being ridden.  A lot of activity for the baby horse to deal with, but I figured we would just do some walk trot and keep it low key.  McKenna was a rock star. Almost no fussing in our sitting trot, coming on the bit, bending well, and best of all, not caring about the other horses.  Once the one horse was done lunging I even braved the canter.  She picked it up well, and was almost balanced.  She still wants to brace against me but not nearly as bad as before.  We were even able to canter while the other horse being ridden was cantering!  I think my new plan for our rides is to not have any expectations and assume the worst.

Expect the Unexpected

It's been cold, cold, cold but sunny for the past few days so on Friday when I finally had time to ride McKenna I had to take advantage.  We lunged in the indoor then tacked up with the western saddle and headed outside.  She was pretty good walking around the upper half of the outdoor, a little up, but I figured it had been 5 days since she'd been ridden so it was expected.  When I decided to open up our circles and move towards the lower half of the arena all hell brook loose.  Apparently there is something incredibly scary in the bushes along the fence and we had some fun rearing/spinning/jumping backwards moments.  I got her calmed down and moved back to the other half when she started it again. 

I decided to not take any chances and went back inside and lunged again.  She really didn't run around a lot so I got back on.  She was still up, but settled into trot work nicely.  Unfortunately right when I wanted to start some canter work a bunch of people showed up, making a ton of noise, and that fried baby's brain.  She forgot how to canter to the left and was hoppy and cranky going right.  We worked through it but it was definitely not our best work.

Saturday I got to the barn right before a lesson was going to start and asked if it was ok if I took McKenna out during their ride.  I was hoping having another horse show her the outdoor wasn't scary would calm her down.  Nope, not even close.  Back to the rearing/spinning fun. I got off of her and ended up just hand walking her around the scary half of the arena during the whole lesson. Luckily the lesson horse, Tia, didn't care at all and barely glanced at McKenna freaking out.

I mentioned to Jen during the lesson that I was planning on jumping Buddy that day, the first time I've jumped him in a month and she asked if I wanted a lesson.  So I hurriedly put McKenna away and got Buddy ready.  I had put Bud's BoT sheet on when I had gotten to the barn and I think that helped as he was pretty loose and forward during our flat work. Usually when it's in the 30-40s he's slow and cranky to get going. 

We worked on getting Bud in front of my leg, while still packaging him and not letting him get fast and flat.  We did a line that was a forward three or a waiting four going back and forth between the two strides. He wanted the three and every time we had to wait he would fling his head and try to snatch the reins from me.  I think his leasers have let him get away with a lot, so we had a little discussion about it.  He gave in, but I could feel that he was pissed.

We then did a twisty, turny jumper course with some tight rollbacks and angled fences.  Again the point was to having him moving forward but packaged.  He was awesome and listening really well.  We were able to do all the inside turns and fit through a couple tight holes between fences.  He even got every lead over the fence or gave me a clean lead change.  I was so happy when we were done!

Time for a Change

For the past few weeks Buddy has been blowing off our flat work, especially when he knows we're jumping.  He isn't bending well, isn't willing to get round, and is ignoring my hand and leg for the most part.  I've had some rides in the draw reins, and he's great when there on but as soon as I take them off his head shoots up and he's ignoring me again. I had been thinking he could be sore, but I've been checking his back every time we ride and he's seemed fine.  His jumping is great over the bigger fences; over our warm-up stuff he's not trying too hard.  Normally when he's sore he'll be pissy jumping and will stop and won't move.

In my lesson this morning it was like riding a giraffe.  We were trotting 2' fences and it was like I was fly on his back. His head was up, he was pulling on my hand, not bending and basically saying "Screw you!" Jen was having me spiral in and out on a circle and figure 8ing, picking up fences when he felt good.  After 10 frustrating minutes we had a couple decent fences and decided to move on. 

The fences went up and we started by schooling a line.  I had to really ride him to the first fence and push about down the line to make the 3 and he wanted to get flat and ugly. By this point I was ready to give in.  It just felt like we weren't working together and I couldn't get him to listen.  Jen made me try one more time and I don't know what worked but we nailed the first fence and the 3 was easy. 

After that the rest of the lesson was great.  We worked on another line, a 2 stride going downhill that was pretty short and it was just flowed so nicely.  From there we schooled three fences, an outside rollback to a diagonal rollback to an outside.  The second rollback was pretty tight to an oxer and I buried at the base a couple times but he always jumped it great.  It felt so nice!

Jen and I talked as I walked him out about changing bits. We want to try and do lots of long and low, getting him to give.  I mentioned to Jen that he'll do the long and low with his western bit, which is a copper short shanked snaffle, about the length of a pelham.  He's been in a full cheek slow twist for jumping but we want something with a bit more bite (for now at least) to make him listen on the flat.  I'm going to try a pelham with a plain snaffle mouth piece and see how it goes.  If the pelham doesn't work then I'll see about riding him in his western bit with the jump tack to see it that works.  If that doesn't work then Bud will be in for some boot camp with Jen!

Back to Work

I had this whole post all ready on my phone,  but apparently it didn't post.  Grrr!  Buddy went back to work this week after his after show break.  He was cranky on Monday, it was windy and that always fires him up.  We worked in the draw reins and while he threw a major tantrum going left we ended on a good note.

Tuesday he got the day off as we were having a barn BBQ to celebrate my and one of the horse's birthdays.  Yesterday I set up a gymnastic, vertical bounce vertical one stride oxer, and had a blast.  He was rushy at first, just very excited to be jumping.  As long as I remembered to have a forward, active trot to the first fence it flowed very well.  My friend suggested cantering a large circle before coming back to the trot and going to the line and it helped a lot.  I can't let him sucker me into a slow trot; he then scrambles down the line and it gets a little dicey.

Our fire pit at the BBQ

Today he got lunged and I'll do a quick ride Friday in prep for a dressage clinic with Mary on Saturday.  I originally wasn't going to ride, but a spot opened up and I got some birthday money so we're doing it!  I hope we've improved since December when Mary saw us last.  I'm also going to do a ride on Connie's mare Wednesday, the one who was bucking people off.  She's had some time off as her back was pretty sore and we've been taking it slow trying to keep her relaxed under saddle. 

3 Horses, 2 Days

Yesterday Amy did a light flat hack with Buddy, so I hopped on Leo to see how he would be in an English saddle.  I switched his bit from a plain loose ring snaffle to a kimberwicke w/ a plain snaffle mouth piece and added a running martingale.  Both were very helpful!  He wasn't hanging on my hands or doing his best giraffe impersonation.

We worked on having a nice, soft, relaxed walk.  He wants to go, go, go and will jig a bit after about 10 steps of walk.  Luckily he's very smooth so his jigging isn't too bad.  I was able to get a nice, soft, and somewhat round walk before we moved to trot. I schooled transitions too, getting him to back off my hand in the downwards and to relax before asking for an upward transition.  Going to the left is much easier for him and we were able to get pretty decent trot and canter.  He'll pick up the left lead form the walk but I had to do a trot to canter to get the right lead.  Going right he likes to flip his head and bulge out and it's easier to contain him at the trot than walk.  Considering how much better he was with a bit/martingale change I don't think it will take too much work to get him going nicely.

Today as I was getting ready to head out to the barn I got a text from Anna saying Phoenix had dumped her and her hip hurt.  I immediately imagined the worse and told her I'd be there ASAP.  When I got there she was sitting in a chair and said that he had spooked and jumped sideways.  Luckily Connie was there and heard it, and helped Anna. We have a little storage shed attached to the barn right next to the arena that we store the jumps in.  One of the barn cats had been back there and knocked over a sprinkler and a couple of standards.  Anna was just trotting past and Phoenix caught it out of the corner of his eye and spooked.  She was caught of guard and fell off.

I'm glad that he hadn't been naughty, but upset for Anna.  Her confidence hasn't bounced back from when he dumped her a couple months ago and this didn't help.  She had gotten back on and walked around but I told her I'd get on and school him.  He felt lazy which is good because in the past he'll spook at nothing when he's got too much energy. 

Buddy's stall is at the end of the barn aisle, right next to the arena and he was very pissed that I had ridden Phoenix first.  He kicked the wall every time I went past and finally I had enough and yelled at him.  After that he just made angry faces, including this gem.


It's a good thing Phoenix doesn't care about other horses lunging at him.
 

After a quick flat school with Phoenix I jumped on Bud bareback and trotted around for maybe 10 minutes.  He felt good, but lazy.  He'll have an easy week this week, and next week we'll start jumping again.  I was thinking about taking him to a jumper show the college girls are putting on, but I'm going to be helping them run it and I don't want to have to worry about my rounds or horse.  I'm hoping our next show will be May 19.

This and That

Not much to report...been trying to get back into the swing of things after being gone.  Work has been super busy and while I like the $$ that comes with extra hours, I don't like being tired and having less pony time. 

We had a couple good flat rides this week, Buddy was reasonably forward and listening well.  Thursday I decided to jump him, as the two cavallettis and a cross rail were in the arena.  Apparently not jumping for two weeks = crazy horse!  Buddy launched over the cavallettis and I had to stop him in the line to remind him of his manners. We trotted in and trotted out of the line about 7 or 8 times before he got it and calmed down.  From there we moved on to cantering the cross rail and he wanted to run at it.  Every time I asked him to wait he would flip his head and get pissy.  We got a couple decent ones and called it good.

Friday one of the other girls was riding while I was, and she had put the cross rail up to a 2'6" vertical so we tried again.  He was pushy and cranky during our flat warm up, but remembered the cavalletti exercise from the day before.  I let him canter down the line since he was being good then we moved on the the vertical.  Same thing from the day before; wanting to run at it and getting mad when I made him wait.  The first time at it, he was way off to the right trying to fit the last stride in and smacked the rail pretty hard.  But that helped him learn as the second time when I asked him to wait he was better about it and less pushy.  Third time was the charm!  Nice quiet fence where I could sit back and let him go without feeling like he was a freight train.  We ended there and he got a bath since the weather's been so good.

Today he got the day off and when I went to the barn I found that he had used his free time to do a little remodel on his stall.  Knocked the top board of his half wall off.  He seemed very proud of himself.

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!

Catching Up

I got back from San Diego on Monday, and stopped by the barn to check on the ponies on my way home.  I could tell that Buddy had gained weight from 6 days on pasture 24/7.  Some one's getting his grain cut!

My barn owners had mowed the field Tuesday morning, so I took Buddy out after I got off work.  Not the smartest idea, considering he hadn't been ridden in 6 days.  I did put the German martingale on, with his stronger bit, but after about 10 minutes of fast, rushy, high-headed trot I decided to go back to the sand arena.  He relaxed, but was still plenty forward.  We didn't really work on anything in particular, just tried to find a more relaxed, steady rhythm.

Wednesday I pulled Zoe out and set a couple fences for her. She too had enjoyed her week off, and every time we passed the doors to the barn (the outdoor is directly off the barn) she'd pop her shoulder and not want to go forward.  I really sat deep and drove her forward, and after a couple laps around the ring with a nice forward canter she quit protesting.  Jumping, she was better and we did another little oxer.

Buddy and Zoe in the pasture

Thursday I got on Bud again, and worked of the same fences I had set for Zoe.  I put them up, to 2'6", and made the oxer 2'9".  He was great!  His jump tends to be a bit flat, but over these bigger fence he's starting to sit back on his hind end more and has a much better arc over the fence.  It's easier to ride, I feel like I don't have to do as much over fence and can let his motion put me into position. 

Unfortunately it started raining again yesterday, and as the ponies were outside, they were too wet to ride.  I brought them and Phoenix in for the night and did quick rides with Bud and Zoe today.  Zoe's in heat, and was pretty cranky so we kept it light and worked on transitions.  Silly mares!

Naughty, naughty ponies

I haven't ridden much in the past few days...my barn owners were out of town last week and I was picking up afternoon chores.  And thanks to Murphy's Law, I was slammed at my regular job, so by the time I did chores I was too exhausted to do much with Buddy or Zoe.

They both got turned out Saturday and Sunday in the grass pastures. I've turned them out together, and so far they seem to get along fine. Since they haven't been out much yet this year, I only put them out for a couple hours.  Both days they were pretty easy to catch to bring back in, but I could tell they weren't happy about it.  Yesterday I grabbed Zoe and started walking both ponies in.  She stopped, and I when I gave her lead rope a yank, she walked forward and bit the back of my arm.  Man did it hurt!

I smacked her with the end of the rope, and we had a long discussion about proper behavior.  All the way into the barn I had her head right by me, with a hard  hold on the lead.  I have a faint bruise on my arm, but its swollen and every time I touch it it hurts.

Today I put Connie's dressage saddle on Buddy, along with a different bit.  I usually ride him in a slow twist bit, but since that's not legal for dressage I put him in a french link. I've ridden him in a french link before and it worked fine for flat work, but didn't give me enough brakes for jumping. He threw a major tantrum.  I don't know if he didnt' like the saddle (Connie used to ride him in it all the time, and it seems to fit fine) or the bit.  I ended up getting off about half way thru the ride and putting the German martingale on. It helped, but he was still pretty hot.  Nik is going to ride him tomorrow, and I'm going to try to lunge him first.

Getting back to it

Buddy and I have our first lesson over fences in months on Thursday!  We jumped a little on Sunday, and Buddy was great.  I can tell he's missed jumping; he was in front of my leg from the moment I got on. 

After my ride, Bud had a few hours off then Nik rode.  He was better for her than he's ever been.  She was able to get him to trot by herself for the first time.  Since she was doing better, I put her on the lunge line and let her do a little canter.  She's cantered another horse once and was bucked off, and then a different horse took off with her and she fell.  She's understandably nervous about cantering.  Bud was a little pissy at first; he shook his head and Nik got unseated, but stayed on.  When we tried again, he picked it right up and was perfect for her.  She loved it!

Bud had Monday off, then today we did a flat hack.  We had some really nice extension in our trot work.  While he's getting better at extending then coming back, I would still like him to be a little more balanced.  I'm trying to stay tall with my body, and not let him drag me down. Bud had a little meltdown over counter canter.  He wouldn't pick it up, then got cranky when I got after him with my crop.  When he gets mad, he flips his head and tries to pull the reins away.  I'm trying to make a big effort to keep my hands low and still during his tantrum. It seems to be working.  After his tantrum our counter canter was ok, but not great.  We'll keep working on it.