pictures 'n' ponies: she's a star

Pearly-girl was so, so good this evening! It was one of those days where I just smiled the whole drive home. I got to the barn right as the horses were being brought in for the night. The barn owner said she was antsy staying in turnout the first few days, but that she had seemed fine whenever he checked on her today, which I am very pleased about. We rode in the outdoor again. It took us an extra try to mount again, but with less teeny-circling than last time, and lots of withers scritches once she stood still for me to get on. There was zero jig-jogging or wanting to rush into trot, so we just took 10 minutes of walking on the buckle. She called to the other horses once during the beginning and that was it. I think the extended turnout is going to be a great thing for her, and she already seems quieter.

Our trot work also felt much more balanced and not rushing. I was able to keep her on a looser rein more of the time, and she seemed to enjoy the stretch. We trotted both directions, focusing on staying straight down the long sides, not getting quicker going home, and using our corners. We took a nice walk break (mostly for my unfit-self's sake) and then picked up the canter, right lead first. She was a bit sticky picking it up at first but opened up. We started on a circle and then moved out to using the whole arena. She picked up some speed but didn't go tanking off, which was nice. She was equally good in the other direction. We ended by trying to video while trotting, which turned into a video while cantering, so I put the camera away and let her trot on a nice loose rein for a couple minutes, then walked her out. I handgrazed her by the road for a bit, and she was so much calmer than she was doing the same on Friday.
Pearly-girl was so, so good this evening! It was one of those days where I just smiled the whole drive home. I got to the barn right as the horses were being brought in for the night. The barn owner said she was antsy staying in turnout the first few days, but that she had seemed fine whenever he checked on her today, which I am very pleased about. We rode in the outdoor again. It took us an extra try to mount again, but with less teeny-circling than last time, and lots of withers scritches once she stood still for me to get on. There was zero jig-jogging or wanting to rush into trot, so we just took 10 minutes of walking on the buckle. She called to the other horses once during the beginning and that was it. I think the extended turnout is going to be a great thing for her, and she already seems quieter.
Our trot work also felt much more balanced and not rushing. I was able to keep her on a looser rein more of the time, and she seemed to enjoy the stretch. We trotted both directions, focusing on staying straight down the long sides, not getting quicker going home, and using our corners. We took a nice walk break (mostly for my unfit-self's sake) and then picked up the canter, right lead first. She was a bit sticky picking it up at first but opened up. We started on a circle and then moved out to using the whole arena. She picked up some speed but didn't go tanking off, which was nice. She was equally good in the other direction. We ended by trying to video while trotting, which turned into a video while cantering, so I put the camera away and let her trot on a nice loose rein for a couple minutes, then walked her out. I handgrazed her by the road for a bit, and she was so much calmer than she was doing the same on Friday.
Walking shot--the mosquitoes were very bad and she tends to do a headtossing thing at the slightest provocation anyways, so I stuck the flynet on her and she was great.