Through Transitions

Ugh housing is being a massive pain. The place I wanted to be at fell through so now I'm starting over again. Now I'm starting to panic a little bit because I start in a week from today. But all of the horse drama is done, aside from his vet check to determine if he really is going to be my horse, and so is the car drama.

The car drama definitely became more dramatic before it was resolved. I went to a dealership on Saturday fully intending to get a car from them. But then when I found out there was another car at a another place that I wanted to try before committing (love having a phone that connects to the internet!), the sales manager made a very rude comment about how you simply can't negotiate with women.

I told him he was being sexist, got up from my seat, and walked out of the dealership without saying another word. I found another car at a dealership where no one made any sexist comments toward me and am picking it up today. My current car is sold already and being picked up this week. Phew, done. Hopefully this means that my sciatica is also done. Or at least more manageable. I'll be going in for an MRI when my health insurance kicks in.

Now just housing to find (which is all consuming) and my thesis to finish (which I haven't touched)!

Baby cows! They're running back to their moms

It was about a million degrees this weekend so I rode Saturday morning but not Sunday (and am not sure if I have time today). I'm calling the vet today to see if I can push his vet check out to later in the week just to make my life easier. My vet is probably all filled up though so tomorrow it is.

Saturday (before car drama) I was kind of a mess of a person, not in a crying-upset-crazy way, but in a brain-is-mush-can't-function-properly way. I rode TC very distractedly. I was answering housing emails half the time and talking to people the other half. I must have looked insane. Stopping the baby to write an email while he played with the barrels, half paying attention to texts/emails while talking to people at the barn.

TC handled it well though, he picked right back up every time he had to turn into a couch. That's more than I can say for a certain bay horse who was convinced that any time I stopped to do anything, he was done.

And across the way is a baby horse! Who Rico
loved

The trot was great! He is so much better in the connection and the engagement now. I was able to get that quiet trot and convinced myself not to nag him too much. He's kind of understanding how to have a bit more power in the smaller trot. And the connection is getting slowly more electric, mimicking what we got in our clinic with Barbi.

The one thing I want to get really solid is our walk to trot transitions. The trot to walks are pretty good. He bends his hocks pretty well and stays on the aids. Sometimes they're too abrupt, and for some reason, I struggle with sitting down into them- like if I really sit down on him, he's going to go hollow. I think that has something to do with the strength of his back right now. I'm also convinced that the saddle fit is not perfect (it's not terrible) and will be getting someone out after I buy him.

The walk to trot transitions are really hit or miss. Sometimes he is straight and on the aids, pops into a nice trot and stays with me. Other times he turns into a mammoth struggling to get out of a tar pit. He flings his head up, climbs into the trot, and throws his shoulder around. It definitely helps when he's more forward from walk to trot, so I've been working on that. It also helps if it's the transition after a bad one, which tells me that he does understand what I want, he just gets stuck in the walk.

They are so cute

The canter was good. He's definitely able to canter for longer these days, and there are some really nice moments where he's straight, easy to maneuver, and on the bit. Not that those moments all happen at once though. But he's actually staying pretty balanced for a horse who used to careen around.

Overall I rode much better than I thought I would given how distracted I was. My brain is just fried from the last week and shows no signs of getting better. I'm getting TC some ulcerguard for his move, I think it's time to break out the omeprazole for me too.

I'm forcing myself to take a day off this week- one whole day where I don't work on anything. I just enjoy a day with my pony (who will hopefully be one step closer to being mine by then) and relaxing. Also riding a client's horse and/or teaching, which are downright fun compared to what I've been doing.

He insisted on stopping to drink all of this water