It's Not The Bit

I got out for a quick ride between rain showers yesterday with the lovely Miss Bridget.

Since she just had her teeth floated and needed a moderate amount of work done, I opted to give her mouth a break for one more day and just go for a short hack out in a halter and lead rope. If you remember all the way back to when I tried her out I rode in a rope halter so I knew she'd be just fine. Also, if I'm honest, I hack out with zero contact  99.9% of the time anyways. Can I just mention one more time how cool it is to have a horse I can just hop on after nearly a week off. No prep necessary, and no bridle either apparently :)

My 'reins' were just slightly bulky.

As always, it was so nice to spend some time in the saddle. She's a trail riding superstar and navigated some small wooden bridges today with zero hesitation. So that whole refusing to step up on the bridge the second day at last months clinic? Yep, I think we can just admit she was just done and totally over the whole 'extreme trail' thing.

Photo to prove it happened (actually I'm even more amazed that it appears the sun came out for a second)!

We stopped off at the ring on the way home to make sure everything was in order footing wise for my upcoming lesson and had a quick trot and canter Since I was riding in a halter we can eliminate the bit/contact as the source of any issues - she goes the same in a halter or a bridle. Truly, though I shouldn't have expected any different, she's the same on the lunge so it's likely still just an issue with the whole 'forward means go' idea. Still, she's very much improved over a month ago!

Cute pony

This morning, we're going to buckle down and have a lesson - it can't be fun and games all the time. Actually who am I kidding, it's fun and games every time we head out for a ride - we just pretend to be serious now and then!