Rode the green pony. She was great in our lesson. Today was the first day that she really began to go on the bit and really work her hind end. We jumped a bit and we discovered that she really needs work on shaping out in corners and riding on the rail. She really fought me on that, so we’ll have to keep working on it. She also needs to learn her lead changes, but her transitions are getting a lot better and she’s learning to not pop her left shoulder which is good. 🙂
Rode my trainer’s Grand Prix horse again! He was much less lazy this time, and while he is still not easy to get going, he got a really good trot and canter going. About 15 minutes to the end of my lesson, I switched onto a friend’s horse that my trainer was schooling, and my other friend got off her horse and got on my trainer’s Grand Prix horse, and my trainer got on her OTTB. Wow I like my friend’s horse! He is so easy off the leg and has a really flowing, forward, smooth movement. I really like him, so hopefully she’ll let me take him in a few classes this show season! (That’s very wishful thinking 🙂 )
Rode the hunter pony again. What a difference! He was so so happy. We did a trot-in one stride, rollback to a vertical, and then around to a 6-stride bending line. I must be doing something right! He jumped great, shaped out where I asked him, worked with me to get the distance to the fences and work the 6-stride perfectly every time we did it! We did the one-stride up to 2’9 on the second fence, and he was just really really good. He wasn’t stubborn at all. Afterwards, I took him out to graze because the weather was excellent and he deserved a treat for really cooperating.
So in case anyone is wondering, I stopped leasing my ex-lease because I need a horse who can jump higher and take me further at shows. She can be a bit unpredictable at times. But I still love her a lot!
Rode the hunter pony. He was not a happy pony to say the least. He did what I asked him to do, but he was really resistant to shaping out in the corners, and didn’t want to go forward a few times. He even refused one fence, which is very odd for him, but I circled him and he rode it great. I think my approach was bad and he didn’t feel like helping me out. 😀 He still jumped around 2’9 great, and I’m trying to work with him on the ground to improve his attitude and his behaviour. Hopefully it works!
Rode the green pony. She was a bit fresh today, but we usually put that down to the weather change because her schedule has not changed at all. We warmed up on the flat, and then worked on a 3-jump bounce combination. She was really good through it. We trotted into it, and she was coming up slow, but I asked for more impulsion from her and she was getting a lot better. By the end, the last bounce was 2’6 and she was going great through it! Couldn’t have asked for more from this lovely mare. 🙂
Rode my ex-lease. She was fabulous. Downhill a bit (as per usual), but I tried to look a bit higher than I usually do when I ride, and she rode more uphill which was interesting and amazing at the same time. We jumped 2’6 and she was so good, since it is close to her upper limit. So proud of my girl 🙂 Happy Valentine’s Day from my favourite horsie and me!
Rode a small pony today! At first I felt terrible because he’s so small, but he needed a school and when we got in the arena, he was full of spunk! He has a very fast canter, and an awesome jump! We jumped up to 2’3 (this is a 12.1hh pony and i am 5’7 but I don’t weigh that much). It was crazy but he was so much fun and so responsive, and he was really riding better by the end than at the beginning! 🙂
Went on a trail ride with the green pony today. She has been at this facility for about 2 months now, and this was her first trail. I could tell she was pretty happy heading out (I went with my trainer and a friend, both were mounted), but the further along we got on the trail, I could feel her getting more and more anxious. As we reached the end and were turning around, she threw a fit and started spinning and rearing and bucking. I tried to turn her straight and walk her on, but she wasn’t having any of it! In the end, my trainer was on a very calm horse, and halfway back he had to pony her to try and calm her down. Only by the end did we have one more spook, but then we went in the arena for a bit and she was perfectly fine. We cantered a bit (we had trotted on the trail), and then jumped a couple fences, then cooled off and walked in. She needs more work on staying calm in unfamiliar places and situations, but otherwise she is coming along very nicely.
Rode a friend’s hunter pony. It has been raining the past few days, so our covered arena has been very crowded as all the other arenas have been closed because they are flooded. This pony is a super talented hunter, but hates horses coming at him, so I had to be very mindful of my surroundings. In the end, we managed to do a short course and he was really good, so I’m happy with him. 🙂
Rode the hunter pony 🙂
We worked on shoulder-ins, and he proved very good at them. And then we did some no stirrups work, and he became very stubborn. He refused to go forward unless he could follow another horse. I tried to just encourage him to go forward and not be so stubborn, and it worked somewhat, but he was having a bad day, so I let him canter around for one lap behind another pony and then let him walk out and relax.