New Trails and Old Routines

For Fourth of July, the family took a trail ride! There's a new trail facility not far from us and we decided to try it out. Rico was so so excited to not be left behind. I work or am not around most weekends so he often watches while Riot and Stretch get taken out and he is left behind. Poor pony.

Maybe if we had actually gotten some rain this year it'd be
less brown... 

I had him loose in the barn aisle while the other horses were being loaded (he goes in last because he's the biggest one). He suddenly realized that he was not being loaded and came charging out of the barn and bullied Riot into the trailer, following close behind him and trying to wedge himself into Riot's slot. I had to run after him and yank him back so we could close the divider and then let him in.

It's a small facility with one 4 mile loop. Rico was up for the whole thing but Stretch wasn't, so we ended up just walking out on one side of the loop for a while, then turning back and walking out on the other side of the loop before turning around and coming back. The trails are new so the footing was kind of loose. Rico tripped a few times but in general felt fine. He had a blast!

Some good views from the first climb

Sunday I woke up in pretty awful pain. My back hasn't been able to heal due to everyone being out of town- which means that my rides per week have more than tripled. In addition, Rico (who I ride maybe once a week on the trails) and TC (who I only ride for 30 minutes 3-4x/week and don't sit the trot) are easy on my back while the others aren't as easy.

I had two horses that I rode in the same day last week that both pulled on me a lot and my back has been getting steadily worse since then. I need it better by August because I'll be riding a lot of horses then as well. I wish people would take me on vacation rather than having me ride their horses while they are gone! Lots of ice, nsaids, and making attempts at reducing my rides to the bare minimum and only working on the canter/posting trot when I do ride.

He is so fun to trail ride

In addition (not done complaining), my inability to do crossfit is only going to make my back worse over time because I'll start to lose the core that stabilizes my back. At the moment, I can't do sit-ups/planks/anything other than walking really, way way too painful-- I am doing my PT exercises but those don't really build strength in the same way that really packs on muscle. I have almost no range of motion from L2 to my SI.

So I'm in a very precarious situation right now, the same one I was in and reason why I chose to leave this career a few years ago, where I have to choose between my health and staying afloat financially. Realities of being a horse trainer right there. I really hope it gets better soon. Or that I get a job soon... more resumes sent out this weekend.

Pity party over! I did still manage to ride TC on Sunday despite the pain.

His mane is out of control

I started with longeing in the chambon, which I'm hoping to keep up once a week. From last week to this week, he was MUCH more comfortable at the canter in the chambon. He just looks bold in the canter in a way that he hasn't ever looked before.

I got on him and my back wasn't having it, so we kept the ride short. He wasn't as forward or as connected as he has been in the last week, but we also haven't ridden at home in a week and, while he's much better relaxed, he is not as forward there. I had to get after him once or twice about being forward and then he maintained it pretty well, we also had to have some discussions via walk-trot transitions about the contact. He snapped back to normal pretty quickly but still struggled with bend to the left. The right felt amazing.

I totally want to hike up here

His canter felt pretty good under saddle. The right was much easier to steer than the other day and the left was probably about the same. In the small arena, he really struggles with the balance to the left at the canter. He leans in and scrambles in the corners sometimes. I think I need to school smaller figures in the big arenas to help him with that.

Since we had longed, I basically just stopped with just a quick walk-trot-canter. While he was eating, I brushed his tail and pulled a bit of his mane before he slammed me into the wall with his face trying to get me to stop. Ouch. He had also kneed me in the face earlier when I was leaning down to put rainmaker on his feet so I kind of just gave up trying to take care of him that day. He didn't mean either of them but I hate it when he reminds me that he isn't Rico!

So patriotic, this guy loves flags

Today I ride him again and hopefully we can get over to the neighbor's to have a nice forward ride. Remember when I hated riding there so much because he was a total dingbat? Progress.