Lainey

Well, it looks like she's going to stay with me, so Ginger will have to share her blog :) Since they are BFFs I don't think they'll mind. The girl who was leasing Lainey doesn't have the time and won't be buying her. My first reaction was relief, and I decided on the spot that I'm just going to have to suck it up and be the princess with two horses to ride and the bills that go with them. As a result, I will not exactly be living a princess-ey lifestyle.
Plan A is to move them super close to here. The downside? The place has no facilities to speak of, just a giant pasture and a sketchy outdoor arena. The upside? Super close. Super cheap. And the horses there all look very healthy and happy. And 160 acres of turnout would equal some very happy ponies. If I go with plan A I will be investing in a trailer so I can trailer to an indoor in the winter and also keep up with lessons at the place I currently boarding. I love where I am, it's just too far away and mega $ for the two girls plus the gas and time to get there. The farrier there is also awesome, so I hope to trailer back for farrier appts too!

Most importantly, I had a good ride on Ms Lainey today. Well, actually, it started out kind of bad, I suspect she has been calling the shots the last couple of months. Why am I not surprised? ;) We had a few 'discussions', mostly regarding her renewed love of racing around on the forehand hauling on her rider. I didn't wear gloves and got blisters :( I think I've become much more confident thanks to Ginger. Honestly, a few months ago I wouldn't have wanted to pick this particular fight in the mood Lainey was in. I used the trick a western coach showed me back when Lainey was quite green and this was an issue. The answer then was rollbacks. As soon as she gets too fast and starts to pull, sit deep, half halt, ask nicely. No response? - rollback. Then ask again for a civilized trot. Repeat as necessary. She remembered, and after a bit of a tantrum, settled into a very nice trot...the kind I wish we'd get every time. Still very forward and open, but not rushing, round and relaxed.
We followed that up with the best canter work she has ever given me. She's mostly TB and has a huge stride for a little horse. Combine that with a low headset and being a bit downhill and it feels sometimes like there is no horse in front of me and I'm falling off a cliff...very quickly! Today though, we got a real canter, powerful, uphill, but again, relaxed and not rushing. I even got a gorgeous collected canter for a few strides. That probably just made my week, heck maybe my month! For Ginger these things just come easily, for Lainey they are much harder so I appreciate how hard she was trying at the end of our ride today.
I am looking forward to riding them both again, they are very different and the change is nice. Here's some comparisons:
Lainey: bombproof-traffic, dogs, wildlife, you name it.
Ginger: terrified.
Lainey: Heavy, pushy.
Ginger: Soft, responsive.
Lainey: Tall, thin
Ginger: Round!
Lainey: hunter movement
Ginger: dressage
Lainey: opinionated,bossy
Ginger: wants to be your best friend
Lainey: doesn't like other horses
Ginger: social butterfly
Lainey: loves people
Ginger: only if she knows you.

Heres the view from Lainey's back!