Lease ride: Winslow

Such a cool visual of my ride!

On Saturday, I had my lease ride on Winslow, to make up for the lesson a few weeks ago when Riko was a bit more NQR than he had been. I had asked on Tuesday if Winslow would go out on the trails by himself, and if that was even allowed for a lease ride. K said he absolutely would and she didn't mind if I did that at all. 

So, my original plan was to work him for about 30 minutes and then hack him around on the trails for another 30 or so to cool him off. However, when I got to the barn, it was really overcast and breezy. I hadn't looked at the weather (in hindsight, I could have since I brought my phone in with me in preparation for being on the trails by myself) but I decided to brave the outdoor arena as long as the rain held off, and thought it might be better to not get caught on the trails if/when the skies opened up! 

I ended up schooling for about 50 minutes and then hacking around the barns for the last 10 minutes or so of my hour. I think Winslow and I had a lot of fun! He just turned 20, so I gave him a long warm-up at the walk on a loose rein and then slowly collected him and asked him to start giving to the bit and using his hind end a bit more with large, loopy figure 8s and a couple of 4-loop serpentines before we trotted. I think he just had his hocks injected because he felt a lot more fluid and less stiff than the last time I rode him a couple of weeks ago. 

We did a lot of trot work in 10 minute intervals, walking for a lap or two in between. At the trot, I focused on lengthening down the long side in a posting trot and then collecting and working on my sitting trot on the short sides. Winslow did some dressage back in the day, so while I don't think he was being flashy about it, he definitely knows how to extend when you push him! Our first few sitting trots were a bit bouncy and disorganized because he didn't really want to slow back down once he got going, lol. 

Before cantering, we walked a few laps of the arena and a boarder joined us in the outdoor. I don't know why I was surprised that she politely asked if they could work with us, but I said, absolutely! When she started trotting, we picked up a lovely left lead canter from the walk, making sure to stay on the opposite end from her with a couple of large circles. He came back to the trot quietly and then we walked and waited for her to change directions so we could canter the other way. The right lead depart from walk to canter wasn't quite as nice, but was still pretty good! When we came back to the trot, he got strong and tried to plow through my hands, but really that was the only thing he did "wrong" the entire ride. He was just generally pleasant and willing and I seriously enjoyed starting my day off that way! 

Since I had my cell phone on me, and actually remembered to turn the Equilab app on!

Changes are coming

3 weeks ago, I rode Riko, as usual, in my Tuesday night lesson. He was slightly off on the right front, but did seem to work out of it fairly well as we trotted around to warm-up. 

At the canter, he politely porpoised around on the right lead, that front foot (or leg? not sure) clearly bothering him. So, we came back to the walk and mostly stuck to the left lead, where he definitely porpoised less. When he started leaping around, I would exhale and bring him back to the trot or walk, let him collect himself and try again for a few strides. 

K said, let's keep him on the flat tonight and I'll talk to L about doing a lease ride on Winslow to make up for tonight. I said, ok, sounds good, and continued schooling him on the flat, while the others in my group jumped around a small course. The rest of my ride was not without it's porpoising drama, but considering he was clearly uncomfortable, he did hold it together reasonably well. 

one of my favorite shots of Riko

The following week, I was not able to ride, as I had to work late pretty much the entire week, due to a product launch. I scheduled a makeup for Sunday, 8/12.

Last Tuesday, I arrived at the barn and Riko was outside, so I knew I wasn't riding him. I actually felt a little surge of relief. I do genuinely like the horse a lot, but I was looking forward to having a drama-free ride and also relieved that they were able to get some more lesson horses in so they have more options for the last adult group of the day after hosting summer camp all day! 

K mentioned that I was one of the few people who could still hold Riko together, but that he is being sent back to M's to retire, now that they have more horses in. I said I was really glad to hear that. He's a good boy, but he's clearly not happy or comfortable. 

She put me on Winslow, who I haven't ridden in almost a year. He was a good boy, although he did try to plow through my hands several times coming back from canter to trot. We had words and he started listening to my aids better. We even jumped over a crossrail a few times with no drama! He felt incredibly short after riding Riko for almost a year, and I almost landed on my butt when I dismounted because the ground was a lot closer than it has been :-P

On Sunday, I rode with the other K, and she said, we're doing flat this week, do you want to ride Riko? I said, I was told he was off indefinitely, and I rode Winslow on Tuesday. She said, ok, you can ride Winslow. We then discovered that Winslow was supposed to be off, since he was being used for advanced camp this week, so she had me ride Wilhemina, instead. I also haven't been on her in over a year, but she is still one of my favorites. I forgot how little she is...it was SO weird to actually be able to see over a horse's back while standing beside it, LOL. I also forgot how squirrelly and wiggly she can be, but it was a lot easier to wrap my leg around her and keep her generally pretty straight.

The last time I rode Willie, June 2017

I ride again tomorrow in my regular lesson, have my lease ride on Winslow on Saturday morning and then I don't ride again until 8/31 in my new lesson slot on Friday evenings. We are trying the time out to see if it works. Getting to the barn and being in the saddle by 6 pm could get a little hairy, but I was upfront with them about that. It also might not work just because it's Friday and sometimes my husband gets a wild hair and wants to go out to dinner or make plans with our friends or something. I don't see a problem with waiting until 8 or 8:30ish to do that, but he's not the most patient person in the world, so we'll see how that goes. It will be 8 weeks at this slot and then, as L and I agreed, we will re-evaluate, if needed.