Good Girls

I had the kind of week I hope I can continue through the winter. The days are going to get shorter and the weather more challenging, but it's my hope I can keep things ticking over and keep those baby steps coming.

Sunsets are earlier and earlier.

To be honest I've already achieved any goals I had for Sophie this fall. I don't want to seriously have her under saddle until next spring. So, this week we just went for a couple of walks around the neighbourhood, and had a couple of quick sessions in the round pen at the club grounds too. I finished up one day by leading her over part of the really old XC course on site...I think there was a Pony Club here 20+ years ago and nothing has been used since. Still, there are little bits of things left and still hidden in the surrounding forest. She happily trotted and jumped the little logs in hand and navigated a couple of small banks so I guess you could say we're eventers now ;)

Tried this saddle on her and it's a pass...it fits through the shoulder but too wide elsewhere. One day the saddle gods will smile on me.

She's getting the idea of lateral flexions and moving her hindquarters and shoulders under saddle. Whoa is pretty solid, go can be a little sticky and wiggly and start/stop as she's just a little unsure still. I'm only on her 5 or 10 minutes at a time and it's all walking. That's plenty for her right now and it's still enough for me to find a good moment or two and make tiny steps of progress.

Bridget also had a good weekend, doing what she does best and showing a nervous horse the ropes of being an ammy friendly trail horse. I am so lucky with her....Murphy's law being what it is you know our outing wouldn't be straightforward. We had to go past a man cutting firewood with a chainsaw on the side of the road and B quite happily marched right on through, even with the other horse jumping around and  bouncing off of her.

I finally pulled her mane too...I could handle this look anymore, so look forward to a more polished Bridget in future posts. Sidenote: It's kind of weird that she's a pony and this is the longest mane and forelock she grows. 

We had a nice flatwork school as well, and she was on fire - light and responsive and so, so, supple and free through her back. She often feels great after a little time off doing other things. She knows her job and gets tense and resentful if she is bored or thinks I am drilling things.

I'm getting an itch to do a little jumping again so some poles and little grids might be a fun thing to add back to the mix to start with. To be honest, as much as I love Bridget it's a little hard to keep motivated without any goals for her. It turns out I am not a trail rider at heart because I'm getting pretty bored with ours. I think it's time to mix it up a bit again.

Bonus moody ocean picture. I took a few and got home and realized there are humpback whales in the center of the frame while I was all focused on panoramic misty mountain tops. Oops.