Weekend Happenings, 2019 Bridget Style

The last post ventured back to 2015, which was a fun time. But you know what? I'm  so glad I was brave enough to keep moving forward and change between then and now. I've got zero regrets about selling Ginger. I miss her, for sure, but she's doing so well with her new owner and it's a way better fit for everyone. I'm glad I kept Bridget, I'm glad I had the experiences at EC's barn that I did, and I'm glad everything led me to buying Sophie and reassessing my work and home life balance.

So, now that we've established how grateful I am to live the life I do, onwards to new adventures!

This past Friday, I thought it would be fun to take Bridget's little friend along with us on a ride. Bridget's friend, Lily, LOVED it. She's the best mini I've ever been around. My husband G likes bringing her because she's so easy and polite, so it's a win win. I want to buy Lily and keep her in my backyard :)

So fuzzy, so cute! Lily enjoying a little snack on the bluffs.

I'm not sure Bridget enjoyed the outing quite as much. Someone had A LOT of ants in her pants, and thought having Lily there meant the game was on and it was play time. She was generally being pushy and disagreeable to boot, because even Happy Forward Bridget is not happy to have anyone tell her what to do.

 It's got me thinking, she's been consistently a bit spicy for a few months now and has changed energy wise in a big way from last year.  I haven't been bothered because she seems happy and enthusiastic, which is a positive considering she was still kind of shut down and dull when we first came back.

Anyway, I'm not sure in the 5 years of Bridget I ever really needed to enforce the whole "stop means stop", "no you may not blow throw my half halt" "walk, don't jig" thing. Probably because the discussion was always about the go button! Even the past few months where she's been borderline getting worse I always in my mind have labelled her as lazy and so I let it slide thinking it was temporary - winter sillies, spring fever, too much good food, etc. I tend to redirect to canter work or other things requiring the energy, thinking I am being smart. In retrospect, I guess in her mind cantering when she offers equals Bridget being large and in charge!  Since it seems her energy is here to stay and  I apparently have been lax in setting boundaries, B now thinks it is cool to race everyone and go everywhere as quickly as possible whenever the mood strikes her. A long overdue chat was had and poor B's mind got a little boggled.

This hill is about 5km long and normally B slows down by the time we get to the top. Not so much lately - I have no idea where this energy and fitness is coming from - certainly not any dedicated efforts by me!

 Every form of forward shes offered until now has always been a good thing and rewarded. If you've been here a long time, you may remember Bridget Version 1.0 would slam on the brakes and refuse to move, even in walk. Gradually, we established walk, then trot, then canter and even gallop and even then the brakes always felt like they were stuck on a little.  In true pony form, I wonder if she's finally given up on napping and hiding behind the leg, and is now doing a 180 and electing to bring all her efforts to escaping out the front and gaining back her pony independence that way?

On our Friday ride it was also super insulting that her favorite person G was walking with such an obviously inferior pony IN FRONT OF US the whole way home. Oh, the tragedy of it all. Never mind that Lily and Bridget are besties in real life!

She's been getting a bit of extra alfalfa, perhaps the attitude comes from there? :)

Wow, never thought I'd be writing a semi serious post about installing brakes and dealing with a too forward Bridget, but here we are.

In other news, Ms Sophie was an absolute brat as well this weekend, and I'll recap that fun tomorrow.

For now, bear with me while I am the poster child for spoiled pony owners everywhere. My two are over here taking pony mare drama to new heights, and yes I'm that person who thinks it's just as amusing as it is annoying.