Inside the Box

On Sunday, I headed out to the barn to ride in the morning because my brother was coming down to hike with me (poor innocent soul) in the afternoon.

Enjoy pictures from the hike!

On our way back down

TC was all excited to come see me. The day before, my best friend and I hung out and she had never met him, so we went over to the barn. There was no time to ride, so we just stood in his pasture and pet him. He was in heaven! He kept putting us between him and the other horses so that we'd protect him. So Sunday he was more than happy to come right over to me and stick his head in my arms for more cuddles.

He refused to stand still in the cross ties getting ready. Other than that (which has been a theme for a month or so), he's so much easier on the ground. I can throw boots at his legs now instead of carefully placing them near his legs. I can pick most of his feet without being nearly stepped on or him trying to paw his foot out of my hands. He's even starting to enjoy brushing- not that he ever hated it, but he just seems to like it a lot more now. I think the routine (I do the same things in the same order every time) is helping him become more confident. He also LOVES the sugar he gets with his bit, definitely his favorite thing about the tack up routine.

My favorite tree again, this time from a different angle with me
being on the ground rather than on a horse!

I hopped on and we started out by just walking and trotting along, working on forward and general steering.

As horses become more advanced, they obviously become more rideable. I feel like the rideability is most obvious to me when it comes to the amount of control I have over 1.) where their feet land and 2.) where their balance (and therefore, where their body) is. Take Rico for example, I could put him in any place I wanted. Like if you drew a small box on the ground, I could put any one of his feet in that box at any gait. I've been riding my little second level schooling third paint horse this week and he's also pretty maneuverable, but not as much as Rico is. The box is bigger for him.

With TC, the box has always been just fucking enormous. I've had very little control over where his feet go and where his balance is. Sunday though, I noticed that the box is significantly smaller than a few months ago. I was able to differentiate between turning across the middle of the arena (short court) at B/E and going across the diagonal for the first time today. I also noticed that I was really, truly, getting bend to the right almost all the time and to the left a good amount of the time. I could increase or decrease the bend to an extent without messing with the circle too much.

Love this place so much

Ruby wasn't sure what she signed up for

We finally FINALLY hit the fun stuff.

As the ride progressed, he got better in the bridle, and as such, more rideable. His canter transitions were spot on (except that he wouldn't pick up his right lead at first wtf) and he was not even thinking about bucking or hopping. Once again, the canter itself was pretty good. I'm still riding on light contact so he can figure out his balance, and I've been encouraging him to go more forward on the long sides and come back to me on the short sides. I think I'll check the field soon to see if I can get him out in a larger area to canter and really get him to gallop.

I decided to focus on the leg yields today after working on the rideability. It's getting to the point where I want to work on EVERYTHING. I want to teach him some lengthenings, I want to teach him the stretch circle and improve the free walk, I want to get him really good at spiraling in and out at the trot, and maybe even start a little shoulder-in soon.

But yes, leg yields today! I began with the leg yields along the wall, as we normally do, and those were basically perfect. So after one in each direction, I started to push him into a leg yield from the rail to centerline. They're not *good* per say, but they are leg yields and he does cross his legs over. We really need to drill the on the bit part as well as the straightness part, but for a horse who seems to be the least laterally coordinated animal on earth, he's doing very well!

We ended by working on some stretch circles, which continue to get better and better each day, and called it a day!

Most terrifying bridge out there (according to baby horses)

It won't be green for long...

After I put him away, I came back to the ranch to change into hiking clothes. I'm trying to go on a hike once a week (in addition to crossfit 2-3x per week and adding running in 1-2x per week) because best friend and I talked about doing the really strenuous 6 mile hike with a HUGE elevation gain at Pinnacles (where exbf and I went camping last month). It has amazing views but damn do I need to climb some things before then.

So I coerced my brother into hiking with me because his fiance (from now on known as SIL so I don't have to keep saying brother's fiance) was not around and best friend had a 10k because she's obnoxiously fit. Poor brother plays hockey and does fitness things on occasion, but isn't as into it as the rest of us weirdos.

I took him on a pretty decent hike at Harvey Bear. Almost 4 miles with a lot of climbing for a relatively short hike, but nothing near what Pinnacles will do to us. I feel pretty good (and even went to crossfit Monday morning for some squats and a horrible burpee/kettlebell swing workout, ugh) but brother was NOT having it. At one point, he and Ruby sat in the shade together while I waited for them. Lazy! But lots of fun.

It was Ruby's idea first...

Worst. Hiking partners. Ever. 

Love this place, glad I get to live here for a month or two while
I search for a job!