New Tools

Monday was a tough day, mostly because my brain was still reliving my lessons and trying to grab more out of them before they became distant memories.

I opted to give TC the day off. I got home too late on Sunday to put anything away, so it was like a hurricane hit my apartment. Also, despite extra days off, I didn't actually get to relax very much. Every minute was scheduled. So Monday was my lay about day.

Obviously I am not that person. So I went to Ikea after work. Because I'm stupid. My job is in the same town as an Ikea, so I tend to get deluded into thinking that going after work is a good use of my time. Never mind that my commute nearly triples if I leave after 5pm. So I got a tv stand and a couple of other things. Then sat in the car for over an hour on the way home. Then dragged all of the boxes up my stairs. Then obviously I had to put shit together. Ugh. So much for laying about. Why do I do these things to myself?!

Old pictures of TC at our last Barbi clinic, hoping to see her
again next year!

Tuesday I also didn't want to ride, I figured he deserved two days off after four really hard days. After picking up grain, I zipped up to the barn and managed to get TC a turnout in the upper arena before it got too dark. He was so silly about his turnout because he was so happy to be out after over a week without turnout, but he was also still tired from his boot camp week. So it took him a bit to really get into it. But once as he was warmed up, he went nuts. Galloping around, bucking, and harassing the pasture horses next door. Scaring me every time he slammed to a halt from a dead run.


So Wednesday was our first actual ride since our last lesson with BRH trainer.

Most of our rides since we moved have started with me having to lug all my longeing stuff out and stick it on him just in case. Side reins, chambon, and line, all tangled up in front of my saddle so I can haul it to the arena. But given that even before this last week, I hadn't done much longeing, and that I had a plan on how to ride him through any issues, I opted to just grab the longe line and left off the chambon and side reins.

He has so much tail

We started in the covered arena, with the option of moving to the round pen if necessary. We were on our own for the first ten or so minutes before being joined by one other rider. No teenagers, phew, because I actually wanted to get work done. Those kids are great for bombproofing but they're hard to ride around sometimes. I started by mapping out what the plan was. Keep riding no matter what, put him on a tight figure 8 if he acted up, and canter as soon as was reasonable.

He was pretty quiet, which I expected just because he always starts out quiet until he warms up and remembers that he's a spaz. We had a nice school around the whole arena at the trot to start. He glanced outside at the dog that was wandering around, but didn't do anything about it. Every time he looked I made a point to put my leg on. I addressed my straightness issues and that went really well. His way of going really transforms when I get my left leg on, kick my right leg forward, and even out my hands.

The canter was sort of terrible to start. For the last week I hadn't been working on the roundness so I kind of expected it. Before we left I was making plans to fix the canter, so I'm still thinking about what process I want to use. It just feels like the canter is really uncomfortable for him to do- I think he has too big of a canter for his current muscling. So we'll see what happens. Literally every trainer has cringed at it and said "he just needs more miles" and I agree to an extent... we'll see. I have some plans. It actually isn't as bad as it feels, he looks like a Training level horse. But in the trot he looks like a 1st/2nd level horse so there's a huge discrepancy.

His canter is not so bad actually, it just doesn't feel as good as
it looks...

Back into trot, we rode some figures and transitions. He is much more responsive now, but not hot to my aid or anything. That's what I love about this horse, he doesn't anticipate. I'll set him up to do something and he'll get ready, but he's not about to do it until I tell him to. This is going to be HUGE when we try to get past Third with the tempis. Rico was the same way and the tempis were easy for him.

The second time we cantered, it was much better. Putting my left leg on at the left lead (which is hard because he leans in and I want to kick that leg off to keep myself upright) and keeping my right hand down and back was really helpful in getting him a little more upright and straight. I was about ready to be done when he spooked HARD and darted clear across the arena because a guy was doing something outside the arena. This was where I really felt the boldness I had gained last weekend, because I kicked him forward and made him canter on the circle he spooked on until he broke three times. Then we trotted until he would quietly trot by the spooky place without even flicking an ear.

We trotted around the outside of the arena and wouldn't you know it, the same thing happened to a lesser degree further down the arena by the gate. The (adorable omg) dog who was trotting around the outside of the arena had settled by the gate waiting for the other rider to be done. I saw an adorable dog that I sort of wanted to go play with instead of riding and TC saw a MONSTER even though he grew up with a pack of dogs running around. So we trotted in a 10m circle next to that dog until he would go by without darting sideways away from the dog.

He's so fun

Despite those two incidents, the ride was good! I felt like my old self (even down to the tingling down my left leg that I suffered from for so many years, thanks Ikea) and like I had all the tools necessary to address whatever baby bullshit he threw at me.

Thursday TC gets another day off (I may go up there to make sure he isn't soaked from the rain, I can put a blanket on him if necessary, but it's sort of a warm blanket), mostly because my back is VERY unhappy with Ikea furniture + hauling grain around + sitting at a desk. On Friday I work at home so I can sit on ice all day. Hopefully on Friday we have another really great ride, and hopefully it doesn't rain too much on Thursday so we can actually be outside!