Springtime Funtime

The last few weeks have been full of mini adventures with the horses :) For mother's day my mom and I did a mini photo shoot with her and her Friesian x Mustang mare, Lena, which was a huge blast! I also hopped on Lena that day and was her first official passenger! She did so good and took it all in stride. As the summer continues I'm hoping to help my mother start her more under saddle and get her more solid so she can become my mom's next trail/dressage partner :)

Last weekend Cheyenne and I had a great break through under saddle! Or, mote accurately, I had a break through ;) She was great online, and was calm, cool, and connected. However when I swung into the saddle her energy spiked, she came alive, and our connection flew right out the window. I'm still not sure if it was my energy coming up unknowingly, or if by accident I have conditioned her to bring her life up under saddle and to expect a faster pace. I started with some figure eights around the cones to get her more focused on my aids which (kind of) worked, then decided to play Follow the Rail and ask for a walk/trot transition every 15 strides. Our down transitions were extremely rough and I felt like I had to be very firm with my reins to get a response. Obviously this still wasn't engaging her mentally, so we started having an up, down, or backing transition every four strides. Bam! Instant success! She started paying attention to my aids, and by the end of the ride I could ask her to move down from a canter to a trot with just my seat aids :) I have learned it's necessary to take the ideas behind the patterns I've been given and start thinking for myself and start tweaking the patterns to find something that works for the horse I'm on in the situation I'm in; there is no cookie-cutter solition. Chey was SO relaxed and responsive by the end of our ride, and I couldn't have been more proud of her :) I was even able to canter on a completely loose rein and steer with just my seat/leg aids 80% of the time :) Progress!

Yesterday my back was hurting pretty badly, so we just had a day to hang out together, be mellow, and enjoy the sunshine :) Honestly I feel like we have the best time when we just sit around and do nothing lol. 

I hope everyone is having a fabulous holiday weekend! Have fun, and don't forget to go play with your ponies!

An Apple a Day Keeps The Dentist Away! Wait...

This weekend is moving weekend for me, so unfortunately nothing too exciting is going to happen with the ponies this weekend. I did however get the vet out to float Gwen's teeth! She was uncommonly hard to keep at a decent weight over the winter, and although worming helped, she is definitely underweight. She receives quality hay and her coat is nice and shiny, she just wasn't able to absorb all the calories she was being given, and turned into a bony pony. I am so excited to finally get some flab back on her so I can ride the crap out of her this summer ;)

You can see her ribs.. can't wait for her to be fat and happy again!

The vet had to give Gweny two tranquilizers because she is so large, and it was hilarious to see her all drugged up. We had her butt in the corner of the fence with a rope around her chest to lean into for stabilization, and she was using that rope for all it was worth! Her hind right leg was cocked and wobbly, tongue hanging out, bottom lip like a sleeping camel.. too funny. She was a total champ, and the vet commented on what a great bite she has, and that she shouldn't need a follow up appointment next year! 

I hope everyone is having a fabulous weekend, and getting some sunshine and warm weather!

Flowers from the parking lot at work :)