Baby G

The newest resident at B's is a recently weaned Lusitano colt - Baby G. He is ridiculously cute. I mean, all foals are cute, but with his fluffy mane and forelock, and the gray starting to shine through on his face (it sort of looks like someone blew flour in his face), he is definitely one of the cutest little guys I've seen. He also seems to have a great temperment. Friday I'm having a baby handling lesson, so should be good!

After a leisurely weekend, I was kind of expecting a wild ride yesterday. Much to my surprise, however, miss Dee was a perfect lady. We trotted over many many many trot poles and jumped a few little jumps with no funny business to speak of. Today was not quite as good, as she came out tense and tight.
The left lead was especially horrific today. I really had to work hard to rev her engines, and she was so tense through her back at the beginning that I felt like I was sitting on a 2x4. It did get a bit better after a few minutes, but it wasn't one of her better days. Conversely, the right lead felt pretty nice. She was forward, balanced and not fussy. Go figure.

Jump Jump

I finally jumped Dee a little bit on Friday! The jumps were little, but Dee was lovely and took care of her momma's bad back. There was no leaping and no scooting off or landing in a heap. I don't know if I'll get her to any events this summer, but you know what? I'm not sure I care at this point. I'm enjoying my girl, and that's enough. I WOULD like to find a dressage show to take her to, though. I'll have to talk to B and see if she has any nearby suggestions.
In other news, I took a self defense class on Saturday. It was super fun and good stuff to know. The company is called East Coast Training Systems, and they pair with Jane Doe No More to put on an Escape Alive program. I think all women should take a class like this at some point.
Considering that the class took all day, I didn't get a chance to ride my girl, and yesterday I was BEYOND sore. To the point of not being able to swallow without the muscles in my mouth hurting. Needless to say, yesterday was spent hobbling around the house. Well worth it, though!

Practice all day for Accuracy

Dee's been a bit of a cranky lady lately! Luckily, she's only been cranky on the ground. Under saddle, she's been lovely. We had a break from the heat (thank goodness!), and she's positively LIT UP with the cooler weather. Once upon a time, this would have meant explosive spooking and gross misbehavior at the canter. These days she sneaks in one or two spooks, but they aren't a big deal. Instead, she uses all her energy to actually go forward. Yesterday, she came out breathing a little fire, but after a tight warm-up, she really settled in and put her excess energy to good use. The best part? I actually felt like I could still push at her to create a really positive, forward gait. She was wanting to get a bit crooked on the long sides in the canter work, so we did a few steps of leg yield. This worked wonders in getting her to say "Oops! Got to travel in a straight line to stay balanced!" I've never done that sort of stuff with her before, but it did a lot to help Sitka's canter, so I figure it will probably help Dee, too. It also helped to keep her up in front a little more, because she likes to get on her head a little.
Quick post, but she's doing very well!

Catch a Hot One

Today's magic word is "HOT". Dee is getting a well deserved day of rest and lounging in her nice, cool stall. Yesterday she did quite a bit. I got on and did a little flat work... I can't tell you how much I've missed having someone on the ground to yell at me about my bad habits! I get too rigid through the arms and I have terrible posture, so actually being reminded to "Lift your hand!" "Relax the arm!" "SIT UP STRAIGHT!!!" is wonderful and MUCH MUCH MUCH needed! Funny how something as simple as lifting my hand gets her off her head at the canter.
Anyway. After I rode, one of the girls agreed to get on and do a bit of jumping with her. I think I'll be able to try next week... fingers crossed. I'm looking forward to taking jump lessons at this barn, because I like the way that N operates. It seems to be all about making the horse jump naturally and quietly, without too much interference from up top. For instance: Dee is a good jumper, but she hasn't learned how to handle the landing side of a fence. She jumps, lands in a heap, and then just kind of scrambles away. To help that, N set up a little grid. Trot pole to x-rail, one stride to small vertical, one stride to pole, one stride to pole. She was doing ok over the first pole, but then ignoring and scrambling over the second, with no thought of balance or poise. So N made it a tiny vertical to force Dee to THINK and BALANCE. It worked wonders! She was actually forced to land and BALANCE for the raised pole at the end. Good girl! I enjoyed watching the girl ride her. She did a very good job of convincing Dee to be a bit quieter about the approaches, because her first inclination is to rush. She's been like that since I first started her over fences last year. She just gets in a hurry. I think we're at the perfect place to sort that out, because hunters don't hurry. They approach the jumps quietly (and then look fabulous in the air). Wouldn't it be fun to get there!?

Summer is Here

...for the moment, anyway. Right now, we're in the midst of a heat wave. It's supposed to reach 93 today, and get up to 95 tomorrow... and let's not forget the HUMIDITY that connecticut loves so much. I'm not sure what it reached yesterday, but I know it was HOT. Of course, the way my schedule runs, I don't get up to the barn until the afternoon, which makes for some miserably hot riding conditions. Yesterday I promised Dee a 25 minute ride if she behaved. She did, and I kept my promise. Interestingly, she was a bit spooky, which surprised me (she's been a little rock lately). We had one little scoot forward (I think it was an animal in the woods, because I did here something behind us), but she just cantered forward a few times and went straight back to work. She also sucked back a little bit heading towards the woods during her right lead canter, but a little kick fixed that. All in all, she was a good girl. Today she's going to do a little jump school and tomorrow she'll get to just chill out.

Tada!

Image is nothing, Lobsters are everything.

Dee is looking like a new woman! I've yet to snap a photo of her sexy new 'do, but soon!
She's been lovely, lovely, LOVELY these past few days. I can't get over how well she moves off the leg both ways now. The left lead still needs work, but that's me and my crooked hips. I've never been able to "go with the flow" as well to the left, because my right side is significantly higher than the left, and so the left hip doesn't move forward as readily. Of course, the fact that I haven't been riding just exacerbates the problem. I have to work harder to get that side looser.
Of course, given how well we've been doing, something HAD to go wrong, right? Well, yesterday while at B's, I was - very routinely - dragging the hose into the barn. NOT so routinely, I apparently managed to screw my shoulder up. My right shoulder is extremely sore and my range of motion is currently severely limited. It's much better this morning... now I can lift and lower it a bit easier, but it's still pretty painful, and I'm praying I didn't somehow screw myself up. Hopefully it won't feel too bad when I ride today!

Spa Day

Today, Dee will have a MUCH needed spa day. She looks like a shaggy mess these days, because she hates having her mane pulled so much that I finally stopped trying. So I'm going to take advantage of the fact that she's getting tranqs from the dentist today to fix her terrible mane.

Yeah... I know. Long, unkempt mane.


She loves having just a stall chain!