Once upon a time, I had a new pony named Bridget. And, once upon a time, I was much better about documenting my rides. I've been slowly transferring all the old pictures off my phone, and came across a few from a couple of years ago that part of me would like to delete. It was B's first winter under saddle, and B was not happy with having to work for a living. I was instructorless and making progress in the " I think that was a mistake I shall never repeat again" kind of way. I'm lucky she didn't buck or rear often a la the traditional idea of a green, naughty pony, but oh my goodness, the stuck, lazy, lack of work ethic thing just about defeated me more than once. Where these moments used to form 50% or more of our rides, now they're a fairly rare event. And my sanity thanks the universe for that.
So, without further adieu, here are some photos documenting a small part of the adult ammy with a green pony mare struggle:
Turning, what's that?
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| Look at me teaching her how to bulge through her shoulder. Go team ;) |
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| Magnetic gate sucking us in |
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| That shoulder again, and no clue what I think I'm doing about it. |
Forward = so unfair!
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| What a lovely canter transition, but I was probably thrilled because at least it happened. |
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| Increasing the difficulty by making it super crooked too. So much wow. |
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| Can't even, competitive llama racing |
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| Forward is hard, up is better |
Can't even today.
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| I don't even know what this is. Angry trantering giraffe? |
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| Game faces, doesn't B look happy to be cantering? ;) |
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| "I hates you, cute cowboy. The answer remains NO! I did not sign up to work here" |
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| Pro llama rider. This would have been a decent moment for us in the first month or so. |
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| No idea what the context of this was, but sums up so many of our rides then. |
Would I do it again?
Of course. I learned a ton, and B is a pretty solid lower level dressage and jumping pony now. But never again with the 'project pony for eventual resale' thing. The project has turned into years and work and will never leave :) Here's a couple of pics from the same era to illustrate part of the reason she stayed:
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| So cute..."I hate this cowboy, can we please go home now?" |
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| Potential to be cute under saddle too |
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| Most important quality of all for a blog pony: ability to pose for photos. |
Hahahah.
ReplyDeleteSeriously - we all start somewhere!
Not so seriously - I loled at the llama olympics remark. lol
The "lazy llama" is still her go to evasion....luckily only when she's worried/uncertain, unluckily, that sometimes means at shows lol
DeleteI LOVE this! You two have made so much progress and it gives me confirmation that Emi is going to get there too! We also have problems with go, canter transitions and those darn shoulders. Haha.
ReplyDeleteBaby ponies! I bet Emi is much like B too, super bendy and flexible so it's no big deal to contort herself in all sorts of weird and wonderful ways...seriously the toughest and most fun project all at the same time:)
DeleteI love these so much!!
ReplyDeleteEveryone needs some good fail inspiration!
Delete........these pictures are basically my life right now haha ;)
ReplyDeleteAww, but not for long! If B can do it, Charlie will get there (and much more quickly too, I bet! He seems much more genuine than my evil llama pony ;)
DeleteLOL competitive llama racing!! Ohhh ponies. Makes our current problems seem much smaller when we realize how long we spent just getting these creatures to MOVE FORWARD without hysterics!
ReplyDeleteI can't even believe the amount of energy she used to spend NOT going forward. Even in the paddock, she's STILL "rawrr, beat on me all you like other horses! I will not move and you shall not pass!"
DeleteMaybe she was a cat in a former life??!! Lol I think competitive Llama trading could be a thing..
ReplyDeleteShe'd make a great cat. One of those angry basement cats.
DeleteI've said before, I'm crazy talented at riding my pony just like a llama should be ridden :)