rainy day

Owing to some brief but intense rain, Wednesday was definitely in indoor day. Today was also a tack change day. I've toyed with the idea of using a figure 8 noseband on the princess and finally got it cleaned/oiled up enough to use. I am hoping that it'll provide a little more stability to the bit, as that might be a factor in her fussiness with contact. Her owners have also discussed trying out a running martingale on her, as she does get into a bit of a headtossing habit, particularly when jumping. I'm hoping that the martingale will give her a little reminder not to stick her head in my lap. In case it presented any problems, though, I wanted to test it out on a non-jumping day.

The rain was pretty loud on the arena roof but she barely noticed. It's the little things that make me realize she's really been mislabeled as a crazypants; she just needed a little faith I guess. We did plenty of circles/ turns, gathering/loosening of the contact, etc. at the walk to get her accustomed to the new garb

Then we started out trotting on a longer rein and picked up the contact as we went along.

Canter was a bit exciting but nothing goofy. I experimented again with giving her a looser rein, then gathering it up and vice versa and she seemed to take it in stride.

Walk break, reverse, more walk and trot to break up the pattern,

 then canter the other direction

Then some more walk/trot transitions, a trot on a loose rein, walked out and gave her a good grooming.

pretty in pink

Had a friend visiting from Colorado for the week, so Tuesday she braved the humidity and went out to the barn. It was a bit hot but not too bad. The footing in the arena looked a little soggy from the rain the night before so we started out in the indoor, but after we did some trotting around the barn owner came along and told us the outdoor would be OK, so we went outside. Pony was good about walking through the various gates while mounted, not that I anticipated a problem but ya never know when horses will have some weird neurosis. Friend and I later realized that the camera was on manual focus when I'd told her it was on auto so most of the pics are a bit blurry.

We'd already warmed up pretty well inside so we did just a bit more trot work and then had a walk break before cantering. The deeper footing seemed to have pony a bit more focused on where her feet were/her way of going and not just go-go-go at the trot but she was a bit fresh at the canter, probably from not being turned out much over the weekend due to rains and not being worked Monday. So, we focused more on work within the canter itself rather than doing lots of transitions, which tend to get her fired up. I do want to do more transition work at another time because a) prompt yet calm upward transitions and smooth downward transitions are something I'd like to get a little better instilled before she goes back into the school program, and b) she needs to grow a butt, but I didn't want to turn it into a battle that day.

We had a brief walk break before doing canter work the other direction and while she was good at the walk,

once I picked up the reins to get ready to canter again she wanted to anticipate.

Kind of a duh moment--of course we all know horses anticipate things once they get into a routine--but not something you really think about until you're the sole rider of a horse for a time and you realize you tend to do things in the same order. So, we did some more trot work 'til she calmed down, and then more canter. Must remember to mix things up in the coming weeks.

Then we did some trotting on a long rein to start our cooldown,

then walked out in the arena, untacked, and gave her a shower. Then we took her down the road for a snack and some asshattery

Then she decided she wanted to play the I'm-going-to-spook-at-nothing-and-gallop-circles-around-you game, so she had to stand respectfully for a bit and then we put her home.

Brought along a long-time best friend today.

I couldn't get out yesterday due to traffic, and the pastures were closed from the rain as well, but Ms. P at least did go out in the indoor for a couple hours yesterday. She hadn't gone out yet today though, and was a bit fresh, especially considering the lovely cool weather.

A little quick at the trot but not awful by any means.
I swear I'm not yanking on her mouth here, she just gets fussy and pulls faces, especially when she is fresh.

Canter was a bit more apparent that she was feelin' good, she certainly wasn't about to take off or anything like that but if I didn't remind her every step (particularly on the long sides) to take it easy she would build up pretty fast.

Walk break in between, little trot to make sure we still have our wits about us. If we go canter-walk break-canter she gets a little yahoo

Then a nice trot on the buckle. If we'd tried to do this this spring, we'd have ended up galloping.

All done

Untacked, etc, then put her in the indoor to hang out a bit. She needs her whiskers done! I will have to see if anyone there has a clippers I can borrow.

I am also working to clear up her thrush, I've been using thrushbuster every few days or so since she got here and it is about gone. I'm going to start spritzing her feet with apple cider vinegar every day and then the thrushbuster every few days until it clears up, but then keep going with the ACV after that. Thrushbuster's too darn expensive to use every day!