Pony Has An Attitude, After All

Lesson day again already - time is sure flying! 2 Pointober was a bit of a fail this week since I was pretty busy and apparently Bridget's attention span also = +/- 4 minutes most days. I can't ride out a spook or a scoot in two point without touching, nor get a frozen pony to move without sitting....yet ;) Today, my iPhone died, so no official timer, boo. I did manage to do 3 sets or so that first day and I feel like I did pretty good today, so I'm hopeful next week we'll see a big improvement over my base time.

Dead phone = no pictures, so you get to see random adventures from past few days

We worked on a lot of the same stuff this morning as we did last lesson. Instructor remarked Bridget seemed a lot more consistent already in the contact and much better about staying forward, and also that she's very smart and 'has a lot of try' because she remembered everything from last week immediately and got right to work. It's a helpful thing for me to hear, because Ginger is so intense I'm left feeling like Bridget is a bit 'blah' at times, which isn't true at all, really - she just approaches life at normal horse speed rather than turbo Ginger speed!

Smart pony is also cute

Next up we did some canter work. Poor Midge. I need to take back my statement in the '10 Questions' post where I said she doesn't buck. She was all sucked back again and I gave her a smack with my crop when she ignored my asking her to canter. She let out a tiny buck and tried to stop, so I smacked her again and she jumped forward and let out a very large buck for such a small pony :) Not scary at all, since you could tell she thought she did A Very Bad Thing and that was going to be the extent of the rebellion. But we learned she actually does have some mare sass in there! Of course, the next time round she offered me the best right lead canter yet, so I'm not anticipating any rodeos in our future. Left lead was fine, we played a little with me getting up in two point and off her back and she liked that, I think. I had issues staying nicely balanced because she's kind of stop and go and all over the place, but I think we made it work. I'm concerned that with all the stop/go/power trot/canter/swerving around I'm interfering and bouncing around more than I could be and making her reluctant to canter, so using a half seat or two point may be just the ticket. Instructor is of the same mindset as me, in that she just needs to move forward and I need to stay completely out of her way - we'll sort the rest out later. She also mentioned using that road I posted about a couple of days ago, so it seems I've found a partner in crime for some roadside canter work.

Adorable new friend

To finish, we walked and trotted Bridget over my new poles and she was absolutely fine about that. The pole work really shows off how wiggly she still is, so I think we'll work on straightness and having her carry me to them a little in preparation for next week, when we might set up a little x at the end for her. She was pretty interested in the whole thing, so my plan of starting her jumping sooner rather than later in order to keep her cheerful little self enthusiastic about life might have some merit.

Ginger spy cam. Spending her lazy days kissing her boyfriend!

Vet is coming to visit Ginger and check that hind end and hoof out Thursday morning, so hopefully we'll have the big mare back in action soon. She's bored and hangs over her gate looking all sad when I leave, no matter how much grooming and treats she gets. It's making me feel so guilty!

Ginger is looking shiny and fabulous wants a job besides her gig modelling in people's wedding photos. (And yes, that's Midge in the background eating blackberries...again. She survives on weeds apparently.)