Rollercoaster

Sorry for the lack of posting. Shortly after my last post Bridget came out kind of sour about heading to work, then a few days after that, despite just walking on flat ground, took a big stumble and went down hard in front, then immediately felt lame behind again. No heat, no swelling, very similar feel as whatever (vet suspected left hock) she strained last time.

She’s looking good, though.

So, she’s back on vacation and I just kind of needed a pity party time out for myself.

Time out, no horses.

Anyway, that’s life. I need to remain grateful that she’s happy and got a life that suits her, and that there’s no reason to think that with a good diet, a further break, and the time to properly build her back up again she won’t happily be taking me out on the trails for years to come.

Sophie, though. While she’s not miraculously grown since my post worrying she’ll forever be too small for me, she’s really looking good under saddle with my friend R and feels pretty good for me. (Yes, I have been riding too!)

Of course right now my definition of “really good” is that she’s forward and sensible and goes where we point her. That’s more than enough for a pony with very few rides under her belt and in an often busy community arena!

She’s getting a lot more confident and the sticky moments are rapidly disappearing, so I’m getting a better feel for what Future Sophie might be like.

From a couple of weeks ago when the big open space was kind of new and exciting and going forward and steering there was hard.

And just what kind of “feel” does she give under saddle, you might be wondering? Buying a youngster is such an unknown. You might spend all that time and then not really enjoy riding them. So far, though, I can tell you she’s everything I could have hoped for and more. I think this morning would have been just her fourth or fifth time trotting any distance at all with a rider, but her balance and ability already exceeds Bridget’s. She wants to be connected and push from behind. She’s aware of what her body and her riders is doing and instinctively makes good decisions. She wants to take you along in a nice rhythm, and I can feel hints of how amazing she could be with time.
Purpose bred horses for the win, I guess!

Temperament wise, she’s of course the same as on the ground. Excited to learn and do new things, sometimes easily distracted and overly busy thinking, but super honest and happy to try for her rider.

I’ve yet to canter her, but I think that’s a reasonable next step given how forward and lovely we’ve got the trot coming along.

I’m inspired enough that I’ve lost some (much needed anyway) weight over the last couple of months and been hopping on her myself once or twice a week the past little while for a little walk/trot ride and feeling OK about it. I’m within 20% for sure now and she’s not at all worried about packing me around (honestly not sure she’s capable of getting tired - her turnout paddock racing antics have given her a shocking level of fitness!) so maybe there’s hope we’ll meet in the middle and I’ll be happier with the overall picture as she builds muscle and I hopefully trim down more.

“Where are the pictures?“ I imagine you might be asking. I’ll be honest - I’m such a hater of pictures of myself that last week I just didn’t want to be worrying about them and simply wanted to be in the moment for my rides on her. This weekend, the Pivo arrived to change all that, but I’m so far failing at getting much usable. I think I need a phone upgrade or to delve deeper into where the videos are saving to, as the most I can get is about a minute of video before my phone crashes. Just enough to see me peering into it and setting it up and leading Sophie to the mounting block, lol. Anyway, my intentions are good and I’m sure you’ll be sick of video and stills once I figure it out 😁

Such incredible media! You’re super impressed, I know. I’ll try my husbands phone next time.