So Happy!

I made it to the barn this morning to see the ponies - they're both looking great.
I took Bridget out today, so I'll give her today's post and give a Ginger update tomorrow in order to not have the longest post ever!

I had thought that today I'd just get all my tack organized and unpacked, try a bunch of stuff on Bridget to see what I have that fits, and both Ginger and Bridget groomed and tidied up. Ginger especially is looking a little bit wild and woolly. Slight change of plans, because trying all my gear on Bridget ended with a pony who was tacked up and ready to head for a ride. Of course I couldn't resist.

Of course I had to ride!

Mindful that I was heading out alone on a 'strange' horse, I opted to walk her up to the ring for a quick ride in there and see how it went. The answer to that is maybe 'not so good' by standard riding pony definitions, and exceeded all expectations by mine.

She's super green, so the steering and whoa/go are all a little sketchy. It's not that she's not trying, she just doesn't have a clue. My saddle also felt like it wanted to roll around a little, which made me a bit cautious. Good news is that we had all the forward in the world, it was the whoa button that she felt should be optional this time. Somewhere along the way she has learnt to do the giraffe thing with her head, and also turn her head to your boot as a way to evade contact and to try to get out of bending/travelling in the direction you'd like. Interesting. As a result of that we had an impromptu lesson in moving shoulders over. Pony did not like this turn of events, but wasn't too bad about it and got the basic idea in a few minutes. The whole contact thing is going to be a huge work in progress - she has a problem with the whole concept, even if you pick up the tiniest bit of rein.  I'm guessing she learnt all this in her driving days? There's no way she was trying them out for the first time today. I know the lady that rode her a couple of times at the barn just used a halter, maybe there was a reason for that! I rode her in her bridle when I tried her out and figured there would be a lot of work there, but didn't test all the buttons so to speak. No matter, I knew I was getting a project, so long as she's 'safe' it's all good. I'll try a few more bits and see if there's one she likes better, other than that we have just have some work ahead of us.We did a bunch of walk/halt transitions, some attempts at bending and a bit of wobbly trot.  In order to keep it fun, I got her out of the ring fairly quickly and just explored the neighbourhood.

Happy ears (also, look G! Riding with no hands while I take pictures! lol)

She did great, just one small spook, and cruised along walk/trot quite happily on a fairly busy road. The roads and trails also act as a cheater way to keep her going straight :)

I say she exceeded my expectations because I took her out in an area that's completely new to her, she doesn't really know me at all, this was just her 5th ride under saddle, I pushed her buttons a little, and we went out alone in busy/spooky surroundings after her having about a month off. She was a bit 'up' but was not worried in the least about her herd mates, and was pretty cool with the situation. I absolutely love the mind on her - she's fun, as far as 'hotness' goes, today she'd have been an equivalent to an average day for Ginger. She definitely notices all the same stuff Ginger spooks at, the difference is that you can feel her thinking things through before she decides her plan of action. Ginger is more apt to blindly react and scare herself. With Bridget, I feel like I should encourage her to check everything out and `de-spook`herself, with Ginger the better option is usually to keep her busy and focused on her rider, letting the scary things be on the periphery until she's convinced they're not going to attack. They`re so similar, but so different. They`re going to be such a neat pair to own!

Enjoying a post ride roll

Ginger wants to say hi, but Bridget is too busy eating. 

Sign on her door. Bridget the Small Welsh Cob. Guess who's a 'Large Welsh Cob'? I love the owners, they're so cute.

I can't wait to get back to the barn tomorrow. Cross your fingers for decent weather...there is a lot of this out there at the moment:

Summer on the coast :)