Wordless Wednesday: Promise in Black and White

Had a great lesson last night that started with a trail ride and a warm-up in the field, and ended with some solid work in the arena. But, nothing too exciting to blog about. I'm cleaning up some photo albums and trying to get rid of clutter, so thought I'd share these gems from 2005, when I was still shooting in B&W film for fun!

First Day of Spring, New Breeches, Riko is Jumping Again!

I got to the barn last night and it was a balmy 45*F. I don't mind that temperature that much when the sun is up (and shining)...it's a decent spring temperature. But when it's damp, drizzly (and therefore cloudy), and the sun is setting soon, 45* feels pretty chilly.

I learned my lesson from last week and doubled up on the long sleeve layers underneath a t-shirt and a vest. 

I also was super excited to wear my new SmartPak Piper full-seat breeches. I had a little bit of an issue with the first pair I bought. After 2 wears and 1 wash, the seam right below the zipper had let go. I emailed them and of course, being SmartPak, they took them back and refunded my money with no questions asked. This worked out anyway, because I had ordered 2 sizes up, not knowing how much room I'd need to accommodate the full seat, and they were a bit too big. Since the Pipers had been like 60% off, I had purchased a 2nd pair in my regular size, before noticing the 1st pair had a seam issue. I sent the 1st pair back. The 2nd pair arrived and I tried them on. They fit mostly great but they were too tight in the thighs, due to the extra suede. So, I returned those, and bought a 3rd pair on a slightly less impressive sale, 1 size up, but still an amazing price for Pipers! I thought they were super cute and different, plus purple is my favorite color!

Close-up!

Feeling better and less frumpy!

Step count and active minutes

I slipped Riko a couple of scoops of Quiessence, per K's note on the assignment sheet, about 10 minutes before I took him out to start grooming and tacking. When I went to put my saddle on, I had to laugh because the girth that had been on his saddle (and had his name tag on it) was comically small for such a large horse. I was like, ok, well, maybe they know something I don't, and I tried it. Nope, barely reached his elbow on the near side. Oh brother. So I took the saddle and pads off and went back to the tack room to try to find a bigger one. I tried 3 other girths, to no avail. I finally went to K, laughing, and was like, soooo, this girth wouldn't fit him even if the billet straps went to his knees. She looked at it and was like, what the hell, this isn't his girth. She came to the tack room and we switched the girth with another horse that is currently on stall rest. I also took his saddle with me, in case my billet straps weren't long enough. They weren't. I had to really force it to 1 and 1 on his saddle, but once it was on, it was easy enough to tighten. I did mention to her after the lesson that it was still not quite right and she said she'd look into it, because they will need Timmy's back once he is cleared to work again.

Riko's saddle wasn't bad, once I got the stirrup length adjusted, but I think it's about a 16" and even my 17" is too small for my behind lately. So, I felt a little squished into it, but not off balance. M watched a few minutes of our warm-up and asked me to lower my right stirrup 1 hole, so I did, and it felt long but I also felt more balanced, if that makes sense. I must lean to the left. Once I adjusted to it, it felt more normal and centered. 

The lesson as a whole was great. Our trot work was solid, he was soft in the contact and not hanging on me, and he was listening. I had a bit of trouble the first few times around at the canter. The saddle made me want to sit, but he does better with half seat and then I might have been balancing on his mouth or just not following the motion enough, because I had trouble keeping him in the canter and he broke a few times. We ended up halting at the A end of the arena to wait for a clear spot before following the others across the diagonal for a simple change to the left lead. The left felt more put together, so I guess it could have also been the change in my stirrup length going the other way! 

Finally we walked for a minute and K reset the 4 jumps to a cross-rail and a vertical heading home on the long side and a cross-rail and a vertical heading away on the opposite long side. I ended up being first since I was walking by the mirror where she wanted us to line up. 

She said, Riko has been really great over fences, so let's trot in and canter out and see what he gives us. She added, if you stay with him, give a big release, and don't catch him in the mouth, he is much less likely to play on the backside. 

So, we trotted in to the cross-rail heading home and he launched a bit even though I half-halted a few strides out, so I got left behind, but I tried my best to catch up to him in the air and I remembered to breathe! He landed quietly on the correct lead and we continued to the vertical, with a half halt about 3 strides out and he took it really nicely, so I stayed with the motion and released up his neck. He landed politely and we cantered back to the end of the line by the mirror. 

K said, that was lovely. And I replied, I got a little left behind because he launched, but I remembered to breathe! So, we focused on remembering to breathe and staying with him after that.

The second time, K suggested that I stay in 2-point trotting to the cross-rail so I was already over his neck a bit and could grab mane to stay with him if he launched again. She also told me to half-halt all the way to the fence and exhale each time. I did both suggestions and the cross-rail was really nice, but he got a bit silly afterwards, so we did a large circle before going to the vertical. Found our distance and sailed over it quietly with a big release.

She said, very nice! Did you breathe? lol, I said, yes, I did!

The third time was kind of a mix between trips 1 and 2. He didn't launch over either fence, and we didn't have to circle in between. He took the line in a quiet 6 and he was very proud of himself (and maybe me?!) after the vertical, but he stayed polite, I released over both fences and I remembered to breathe!

For our last trip, she had us trot in, canter out, and then come back to the trot to do the line away from home. He came in quietly, with me still in 2-point, came back to me in between and took the vertical quietly. He thought we were done, but I pushed him into a circle and asked him to trot so we could do the 2nd line. He was quiet again, got a bit excited in between but came back to me when I half-halted. 

We took the vertical from a great distance and he got playful on the other side and dropped his big ole heavy head between his knees and started kicking up his heels. I had a bit of trouble picking him up (he's heavy!), but he wasn't trying to dump me (because if he was, I would have been done), he was just celebrating. I finally was able to get his head back up and praised him as we stood in the middle for the next person to go. 

Revisiting Winter and Sitting Normally

For a minute this week, I thought I was back in New England! After being decently spring-like on Saturday, Sunday came in with lots of rain that continued into Monday and turned into a wet wintery mix that eventually became snow and slush. Then, on Tuesday, it was in the low 50s and sunny, melting the majority of the snow and ice.

Lessons on Monday were cancelled after about 3 pm, and I wasn't sure if they would cancel on Tuesday because there was no way to know how the roads would be. I got my stuff ready and kept an eye on my email. No email came in, so lessons were on! 

I had trouble figuring out how to dress, again. It was still in the 50s when I was leaving. And with the time change, the sun is now up through half of my lesson, but it was supposed to dip into the high 20s/low 30s overnight, which meant it had the potential to get cold quickly. I ended up choosing my long-john long-sleeved shirt and a t-shirt with a vest to ride, and my winter barn jacket as an extra layer while I groomed/turned out, etc. I wish I had put 1 more long-sleeved layer on, because when the wind wasn't blowing, the temperature was perfect for riding, but when the wind picked up, it went right through all 3 of my layers!

There was a note on the lesson page next to Riko's name to give him 2 scoops of Quiessence, so about 45 minutes before the lesson, I put some in his feed bucket and then left him alone until it was time to groom. 

He was falling asleep on the cross-ties while I groomed him. I noticed when I went to get his pads, girth and bridle, that the new foam pad I was told about was with his saddle, and it looked really nice. Thicker all around than his old one, but especially in the front. 

Photo courtesy of Amazon. This is the Wintec Comfort saddle pad with lift front.
Not the actual pad, but a decent approximation

I was excited to try it out. He previously had a fleece half pad and a foam half pad to put on top of that, and I had to finagle the placement because if I used the foam pad in the correct way, it pitched me and my saddle forward. So, K had suggested flipping it around, which worked, but there was still a bit of forward pitch going on. 

When I mounted, I instantly felt the difference in where this pad put the saddle. (I also was able to tighten the girth 1 hole, due to not having as much thickness 😮) As I walked around, and glanced in the mirrors, I noticed my legs were easily and comfortably at the girth and I didn't feel like I had to be in a chair seat to get them there. It felt much the same when we started 2-pointing and trotting. I felt steady and strong, and like I was sitting where I needed to, so I wasn't hitting him in the mouth when I wobbled and lost my balance. I lowered my right stirrup half a hole and felt more balanced in general. All in all, our flatting felt hugely different and Riko was really great. He was silly with his head a bit at the canter, but I think his forelock was tickling his ears.

He is still not (formally) jumping...his owner seems to overlook that he regularly jumps cross-rails and small verticals like they are 2'6" or better, and does pretty much the same thing with ground poles, lol. His leg felt normal to me when I was grooming but K felt a bit of heat in it after warming up. But, we did a poles course and he lit up like a firecracker. 

He launched over the first one, even coming in at the trot, and K had me halt him, which involved a 1-rein stop because he had cantered after and just plowed through my hands. I got him stopped, scratched his neck and then trotted the 2nd pole and halted nicely after. We cantered it the 2nd time, and he launched again and then porpoised a bit after. Another 1-rein stop to halt and then we tried to canter over the 2nd, but were kind of discombobulated, so we ended up trotting it and cantering calmly after. 

The 3rd time, K said, canter the 1st, canter a big circle and then canter the 2nd. That didn't go well, either, lol. On the approach to the first pole, he got strong, so I sat up and circled first. He jumped it and tried to drop his head. I pulled him into the circle and since he was so busy trying to play, I wasn't able to hold him up in the circle, so we broke to a trot and then flailed a bit trying to get the canter back. We cantered the 2nd one a little nicer and I made a huge deal of him holding his crap together. 

I know I was counting my strides, but I think I need to be a little more diligent about breathing, too (breathing while jumping has always been an issue for me!). Also, I finally remembered to switch my stirrups before I took my saddle off of him. The left leather was feeling pretty stretched out, but I kept forgetting to do it!