Although Bridget is not nearly as excited as Q about spring, she is in full shedding mode which I guess is as good a way as any to express her anticipation.
The dressage clinic Thursday morning did not go as I had hoped. B felt tired, and never really got into the game. Not ideal, because the clinician can only judge and work on what she sees, and what she saw was needing "more" pony and "less" rider motivation, but I didn't ever get a clear picture as to how we were to achieve that.
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| B is convinced all buckets contain food, somewhere. She'll happily investigate buckets all.day.long. |
I gave Midge the treat of rolling around in the sand round pen and playing in the buckets for as long as she chose (one of her favorite things at the moment) and returned to the arena to watch a little more of the clinic. After some thought, I'm going to save my clinic $ for more lessons with my regular coach. Nothing wrong with the clinician at all, I just don't think they are right for us at this point in time. Lessons are $125/45min and I just can't afford that if I'm not 100% committed and able to take advantage of the expertise on offer :)
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| A relatively small amount of snow on the coast creates chaos. Buried under the snow: the crocus and daffodil shoots I was so excited to see earlier this week. |
This morning we had snow which shut down the highway, so no riding for me. My half hour commute to work turned into 2.5hrs of chaos like I've never seen. (It's a very steep, windy hill back down to the area I live, otherwise I would have turned around and gone home) I was very grateful for my truck, although hooking Bridget up to a sleigh would have likely taken less time and been far more fun!
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| Throwback to adorable baby Bridget in harness. |
As a result of the unexpected snow, our clear rounds schooling event tomorrow has also been postponed. Disappointing, I was looking forward to it!Weather permitting, I hope to get to the barn and just spend some quality time with Ms B this weekend. Maybe a nice hack to put us both in good spirits?
Aw bummer about the weather cancellation!! Also I hear ya on the clinic experience too. That was basically my feeling after my last clinic with Charlie. It was nbd ever with Izzy bc she always showed up to work and was fairly confirmed in the basics.... But for now with the new guy that money is best spent in out regular routine. Ah horses.
ReplyDeletePretty much exactly that. I think my regular coach has a pretty good handle on all things Bridget, good day vs bad day and is good at knowing how to redirect and get some progress even on bad days. Clinician can only draw conclusions from what she sees on the day.
DeleteSo cute - does she return to the same buckets repeatedly "just to be sure"?
ReplyDeleteAt this barn, they get dinner brought to them in the bucket, then the bucket is taken away when they're finished. We have auto waterers, so no water buckets even. So, I'm pretty sure Bridget believes buckets always contain food...they're not normally in her space otherwise! It's an ongoing thing, she is fascinated by the stack of buckets near the feed room, and plays in the water buckets every time we travel. For some reason, she also loves putting her feet into even the little feed buckets and standing like that. If ever i bring her home I'll get her extra (equine safe) buckets to play with. Ponies!
DeleteSorry the clinic wasn't as good as you hoped! Clinics are so tricky, sometimes it's a new pair of eyes that gives you great new ideas...and sometimes not. Sounds like you have a good plan going forward :)
ReplyDeleteIt's always unfortunate to spend big $ and feel like you didn't get anything out of it, especially when your pony didn't show up to play.
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