Best class ever

On Sunday, I was moving a little slow. I hadn't gotten enough sleep and had chugged my bulletproof coffee and a keto muffin to hold me over until I got home. I also threw off my routine when I decided to use my "old" (they were only 2 years old and the sole was starting to separate) Ariat paddock boots for mucking/chores/cooling out, and the new ones I bought to replace them for riding only. This meant I could wear the older ones to the barn and change into the newer ones and my half chaps right before I bridled. In theory, it means the new boots and my half chaps will live longer. It also means I'll be a tiny bit cooler while doing my stall, right? Seems worth it. It only takes a couple of minutes to change shoes and what not, but it's a new step in my routine. Just have to get used to it!

Tosh had some pretty nice zebra stripes of mud on his legs and belly. He clearly had some fun in the rain the night before. After cleaning him up, I went to pick his feet and found a gigantic rock in his right front foot. So big that I tossed it just outside his stall and later took it to show T. I was shocked he wasn't sore during our class (or last night in the group class, for that matter).

Once he was clean and booted, I started on his stall. It was pretty wet, so after I had piled his hay back in the corner, I ended up mostly stripping it. When it was time to go get the surcingle to tack him up, I dumped my wheel barrow in the spreader, leaving the remaining shavings piled along the edges so I could toss them after my ride, and walked to the arena to grab the tack. I came back to the stall with the surcingle to find a fresh 💩 right in the middle. Thanks, buddy.

I ignored it for the time being, got the surcingle situated and then took him for his pre-ride drink. Then bridled him and sprayed him with fly spray again before heading over to the arena. He scooted a tiny bit when I clumsily threw myself onto his back, but he wasn't cold-backed at all, so we went off to do our warm-up. I felt really balanced right away, and on both long sides in both directions, I tried closing my eyes to test it out. Tosh said, yep, you're straight.

Sunday is not quite as labor-intensive as Tuesday, but still a busy day!

When T asked what I wanted to work on, I said, the same stuff we've been doing, straightness, turning, and breathing. She said my turns during my warmup had been really nice and asked how everything felt. I said, I feel really great so far, even, balanced, both legs feel the same length, and I closed my eyes in both directions and Tosh stayed right on the rail. She told me to pick a direction and I opted to go right first. We did some serpentines and circles, a few changes of direction without changing bend, a few where we started on a counter bend to a true bend, etc and all of it was soft and swinging and really nice. 

Once we were tracking right again, she had me pick up my trot and Tosh's body stayed loose and relaxed. T kept exclaiming, this is a beautiful trot! We did more circles, and a serpentine to change direction and amazingly enough, I was able to hold my body together for the majority of it! When we walked again, T said, I love to see him so free and floaty, because it means his rider is really balanced and soft. She asked how it felt and I said, it feels amazing. He feels really great. She said, well, he's just reflecting your body back to you.

Our canter work was fabulous...I mean, he was so soft and lofty, I actually got a little nervous for a few strides tracking right. I was thinking why the heck are we going so fast?! Then I started counting the rhythm and realized he wasn't going fast, he was just covering more ground, with more suspension. Even more exciting than how it felt, was that I was able to do several *round* circles in each direction with very little effort other than turning my head. My shoulders and hips followed and Tosh just went. 

After we'd walked a couple of laps to catch our breath, T asked if I wanted to do anything again and I said, I think our trot and canter work was really great and I want to hold onto that. Can we do some figures to cool out? 

So, she had me pick up the trot and do an hour glass from F to H, then from M to K. Tosh got super excited and wanted to canter again. He loves doing flying changes, so he was just ready to go show off. His shoulders were so lifted that turning him felt so easy, soft like butter and I was just giggling at him wanting to canter through the figures. Then we did a large serpentine from A-X-C, and he started to settle when we did several smaller serpentines from R-I-S, E-X-B, and P-L-V. Every turn was seamless, effortless. When we halted at A, T was clapping and exclaimed, THAT was your best class EVER!

Woohoo! I think I grinned stupidly through our cool out and finishing up Tosh's stall. I also think Tosh was messing with me a little. So, when we got back to the stall after doing our water walk, I picked up the present he'd left me before our ride, tossed the sides and spread the old shavings back around the stall, picking the little leftover pieces as I went. Then I went to empty the wheel barrow again and get fresh shavings. When I came back, there was another 💩 in the middle of the stall! What a brat! I dumped the shavings, picked up the 💩, spread the shavings, dumped the wheel barrow again, and went to get another load of shavings fully expecting to have another turd waiting for me. I was relieved that wasn't the case, LOL. Finally, I left him loose and then I went back in to top off his water and he was waiting at the door for me looking at me like, I know I was a good boy, where are my mints? He's such a character. 

Not my best work, but I enjoy practicing when I have a
few extra minutes, and it seems to help keep him cool

Tuesday evening was blazing hot with a heat index between 106 and 111. Unusual for this area. Luckily the humidity wasn't too bad. 

I saw J as I was bringing Skylar's tack to his stall and she called over, the shim will go on his right. I said, perfect, I was going to come ask before I tacked him up. She said he had been ridden 2x in that setup and she hadn't been able to look at the sweat marks before he got sponged off, so I assured her I'd come find her before untacking or send pictures of his back if she had gone home. 

We warmed up in the covered arena so we had some shade, and T had watered it before our class, so it did feel significantly cooler in there. The storms moving around the area generated a lovely breeze every once in a while. 

T had the 4 of us do lots of circles at the trot and canter during our warm-up, and during one of our walk breaks, T commented that I looked really balanced and asked how it felt. I said, it feels good so far, and Skylar is feeling looser and more forward with this saddle. Plus, I didn't feel like it was constantly dragging me left, like the week before.

Once we'd worked in both directions, T asked if anyone didn't want to jump. All 4 of us did, so we trekked down to the outdoor. All of the horses perked up a bit. They seem to know it's a jumping night and they thought we weren't jumping since we'd started in the covered. Too funny.

I went 3rd, after 2 really great rounds before me. T had me start tracking left, we jumped the skinny next to the bricks on half school, then turned right and did the first fence of the triple, turning right over the bricks, then turned left. She sent us up the diagonal line over the small stones and the lime green, and then down the triple toward home. 

I think I got a little ahead of him a couple of times, but I kind of went, oh crap, don't do that! and reminded myself to sit back in mid-air. I was only slightly better about breathing throughout the course, and consciously reminded myself to take a breath before the bricks and again before the small stones. Not nearly enough oxygen, but we got it done! We stuck around to watch Tosh jump and then trekked back to the arena to cool out. 

J deemed the saddle setup satisfactory for now, so we'll be sticking with it for a few weeks and see if anything changes.