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.