Boot Camp Days 1&2

Monday:

Honestly I was drained from Sunday's adventures. I haven't felt that rough emotionally in a very long time. So, while Monday still involved a long, tough day at work and some minor worries about new pony's arrival, I also gave Bridget a spa day and managed to get to bed early with a good book. Boot Camp was a bit of a bust, I needed the time out :)

Tuesday:

-EC took the trailer for a checkup while I was having another tough day at work. The trailer definitely needs new tires ASAP due to their age, but they repaired the valve stems and gave it the green light for short hauls. Phew. Also, is EC the best, or what?! I'm not sure what the trailer's owner is going to want to do re: the tires. Thinking this may be an opportune time to just offer to buy the trailer and get the necessary work done, but obviously in purchasing a new pony I blew about 2 years worth of extra horse budget/savings, so we'll see :)

More random pictures from this month again, sorry.

-I got good news in that I signed the "official" papers for my new job/promotion (at the same company) and schedule. Work is still going to be a bit tough temporarily, but hopefully by May my schedule will be improved and I can nearly see the light at the end of the tunnel. My pay rate improves immediately, though. Yay!

-"Sovanna Banana" is now a Canadian horse citizen and arrived safely early Tuesday morning in Vancouver. Latest report is she trailered well and has settled into her temporary home just fine. I don't feel that great about how the timing worked out, but I know she's getting great care until we can pick her up on Friday. I'm really excited to meet her!

-And...Bridget and I had a lesson! It was a tough one. B was really tight and braced and generally felt not so great. It would have been just great if she was a llama, but no... Part of it was due to me bringing some work stresses into the ride, part of it I think was Bridget being distracted by the new/old surroundings and mentally opting out of work. So, neither of us was on our best game. There were moments where our hard work over the winter showed, and many more where we regressed a year in training. We did end on a good note, where she was getting her neck out in front of her and using her back, but meh, our best moments felt average compared to the work I've been getting at home, and there was a worrying trend of me being unable to keep her in front of my leg any time we asked for anything different. Very unlike the Bridget of the last few months, but oh so familiar to me as one of her old tricks I thought we'd finally solved. I hate the sucking back more than anything, because if you can't keep an honest forward, as the rider you're pretty helpless to work on anything else. And B, being a smart pony, knows this well. Discouraging that we brought on boot camp, and B's initial response is a big "NOPE!" because recently her work ethic has improved and been giving me hope, but I am learning to just take the horse I have on the day and not get too emotionally caught up in it.

  So, homework for Wednesday is basically for me to be Mean Lady and be unrelenting about holding Bridget accountable about paying attention to me and putting in an honest work effort in every moment, in every environment. I love the pony dearly, but she sure does know how to keep life interesting.