go west young horse

the weather was better :D

so on Saturday I rode Fi (and she was pretty good) and lunged and rode Rosie. I was not sure what our "alternative jockey" was up to so was thinking of doing something with Duds in the afternoon if she was free. As it happened she wasn't, and I realised grading the arena was probably higher priority as it hasn't been done for a good few weeks, and had a fair amount of use over the easter break.

With Fi I focused on both her movement, and on my lower back (as with last week's lesson). She was a little "swishy tail" when I got on but some loose rein work (and walk) seemed to loosen things up. I finished with brief canter on each rein.

Rosie was less forward going then last week but still not horribly bolshie.

On Sunday I had decided to take Rosie along to a western training session - even thought she is not western - as the instructor is very good with native ponies. Plus just going out, seeing a new place and being in an arena with strange horses - would all be good experience and additional mileage.

The trailer was parked in a slightly different place, which confused Rosie slightly when loading. But it didn't take many minutes for her to decide it was all ok.

We found the place pretty easily (about 30 mins away) and tacked up. Toddled about a bit and just did some walk and trot. She wasn't very forward going and was VERY distracted. The instructor put some cones out to weave through. She commented that Rosie was moving her backend, but not really turning with her shoulders. When one of the other horses was doing some canter work, I stood in the middle of a circle and did some turn on forehand and turn on quarters work. The turn on quarters was harder for her, and she felt almost blocked one way. This is something I can work on at home and with ground work.

We also did some halt and reinback work, just asking for each front foot to take a step. And the walk forwards again. The reinback slowly got softer, though Rosie had the tendency to offer every other direction before offering a step back :rollseyes:

A couple of times she was quite distracted by other horses - the instructor commented to turn her away from the distraction. I think this is also something I need to do more of - redirecting the energy away from what is distracting her.

We broke for lunch, but not after one of the spectators had a quick sit.

After lunch we tried a synthetic (light !) western saddle on her and had a wee ride. She actually moved a lot more freely. More so than when she has had a treeless saddle on. Perhaps it is my heavier weight - and the western saddle distributes it more broadly ? I felt secure in it, and the instructor commented (wryly and with a grin) that I was riding with a longer rein already and looked happier myself. But the saddle felt to me like it had two ridges along it - so the seat was not a good fit for me. But it was a useful and interesting thing to do.

She loaded to go home like an old hand.

We got back in the afternoon, and rather than go home - I tacked up and rode Fi, and then Dudley. Both went nicely. The weather when I was riding Fi was so sunny I almost took my jumper off and rode in my tshirt. But then the wind blew up and the clouds rolled in, so I had a coat on to ride Duds - that different in less than 30 mins !

I did more long rein soft contact work with Fi, and added in a little leg yield to help with straightness. I thought there might still be a hint of soreness in the near fore, so we did some walk-canter work to avoid the additional strain of trot (where the issue is most likely to show up).

I only did about 25 mins with Dudley, as it was getting increasingly cold. But we worked in all paces and did some pretend dressage test type moves. He was forward going and went well.