Great ride for 2 weeks off!

I'm pleased to say Belle was very good yesterday when I rode. Well it was 90 degrees and she's growing in her winter coat but STILL..for 2 weeks off she did excellently....Picked up canter to right and left without a problem or fuss, and didn't race around. I worked on collecting her into her bridle and getting her to realize she can set her head without me pulling or yanking on her. She got that at the trot pretty quickly...a little slower, needs more work canterwise.

I did some trotting and cantering on the buckle too and let her just go along. Well done and I was glad I got out there in the steam to ride. Should make Thursday's trip a little easier too, since we just had a major weather change too cool temps.

I'm attaching my new favorite photo of us all...taken by my mother in law during her visit this past May.

Have a great and blessed day,


Robin

BOO! Happy October!

For the month of October I'm going to feature different Halloween type layouts!

We went to the barn on Saturday , groomed and longed Belle....she was a good girl, a wee bit high on life but we'll see how she is tommorrow!


Enjoy the changing layouts!


Robin ;)

You can tell...

That that plucky bay mare had three days off!

At least for her canter you could tell....Joe rode again today....did really good....when we went to do some canter though lil miss Pee in her Pants decided to kick up a bit....no no no! So I jumped on and persuaded her to rethink that idea! (Never a good idea for a beginning rider to get a confidence jar like losing one's balance from a F-you type of kick out lol)

I know this mare pretty well...any time she has time off she tends to be a little whiney about going back to work...kind of like myself I reckon!

But Joe got back on after I rode her for a few minutes and she was much better for him....still very boundy into the canter but much less racey and easier for him to sit and get used to a bit better. Then we took Miss Thang outside and I had Joe steer her in circles and practice turns and stops to cool her out.

Tommorrow..well later today I should say...we are going back out to ride again...I am sure she will be more obediant today since we went through the pissies already yesterday!

The great thing is though I was talking to my barn owner (Belle's great vet isn't that perfect!) and she mentioned the huge change in this horse in a year and I have to totally agree with her. Belle has come a long long way from a goofy and silly animal to a quieter, more mature version of herself.

Hooray for 24/7 turn out.....it works wonders LOL....

I added Carol's blog link today...go check out her training diaries about her wonderful Ruminaja Ali son, Aspecial Ali!


Happy trails...


Robin

Good ride today

Well I did learn something.....the web halters really are "creek halters" (as in the only thing that should be done with them is toss them in the creek) I tried using my web halter and boy was it easy for her to pull and ignore and drag me around the arena....

Back to the rope halter tommorrow!

We had a good work today, walk, trot and canter with contact on both reins, she was softer on two reins then she's ever been and the lateral flexion is much much better. We did a LOT of left lead canter today and she did pretty good, tried to break a few times but the gas pedal is getting there at long last.

Am bidding on a month of training at Rooker's on the Ablack horse auctions....go check em out there are tons of great items and it benefits our breed!

www.ablackhorse.com

Belle after her bath today:

I really wish I'd had the camera on me!!

Joe and I went to the barn on a BEAUTIFUL Sunday morning....low humidity, in the 70s, just perfect riding weather! Joe spent a good amount of time grooming Belle, I attended to her mane and tail as that is my specialty (read I don't yank her mane out lol)...we tacked her up and went to the indoor to start...(3 days off and a major weather change...I didn't want to take any chances as weekends are Joe's riding time lol)

Joe did some Longing for respect stage one with her and she did well....he needs to practice his cues for disengaging the hindquarter a little more but really he is doing so awesome!

I've been giving him riding lessons once or twice a weekend for the past month, month and a half and he's developed a very nice posting trot, can do a one rein stop effectively and is getting more balanced in his seat. So today was the biggie....after about 15 minutes of trotting on a loose rein I asked him if he would like to try the canter?

Joe said yes and he did REALLY outstandingly well! At first of course he felt fast and out of control but I showed him how he could instantly shut Belle down with a one rein stop anytime he felt unbalanced and that helped boost his confidence!

To finish our lesson we went outside were Dr. Shannon and Lori were riding in the sunny outdoor arena. I was the only one NOT on a horse but that was ok LOL...!

So after that Bee got a nice hose off and back out to the fatty pen, where she now lives with ummm the plumper members of the Saddle Creek gang! lol.

All in all a GREAT day and my husband is very very excited about horseback riding now lol


Robin