Added Impulsion

 I feel like Sophie and I had a bit of a rocky winter and spring of 2021. There’s no dramatic story to be told - just your average young horse shenanigans and a middle aged rider who’s not as brave as she could be. 

This past summer saw a gradual improvement where she surprised me by being very mature more often than not. Still, I was not ready to put my foot on the gas and I was very interested in keeping things quiet and non stressful. Relaxed and happy confidence boosting miles were the name of the game for both of us. 

This fall, Sophie’s been very consistent (in the best way). My husband came with us for a trip to the club grounds this past weekend and was amazed at how calm and happy she seemed. “Of course, she’s a good girl!” I said. But, it did make me realize that when he last tagged along not that long ago, her behaviour was inconsistent and I had far less trust in her to make wise decisions.

Happy pony and rider this weekend. Thank you to G for taking pics! 

The past couple of weeks I’ve stepped it up and have actually been riding again. (I mean I’ve been riding all along, but you know what I mean, recently I’ve been *riding* my horse and being way more proactive and demanding and actually schooling things rather than just putting happy easy miles on) So, things have fallen apart a little and the picture is rarely great, but the pieces are coming back together and big improvements feel imminent. 

Part of my gradually expanding confidence in the pony has resulted in really riding her properly forward. I don’t feel like I was actively restricting her before, but I certainly wasn’t pushing for more on the regular, either. I felt like I was at my limit riding her sillies last winter, I didn’t need to show her how to add more power to them :D 

Because there are already some large-ish gaits hiding in this small horse package.

So, we’ve been having fun rides. She’s starting to feel less green all the time and there are moments when things feel absolutely wonderful. Then the wheels fall off, and we start again.

Exhibit A: Sophie “No, I will not canter on that lead today” Wheels falling off, I’m not feeling wonderful but at least there is still one tire on the ground, lol

 What’s fun is that we now have those good moments pretty regularly and they’re easy to go back and find when things fall apart. 

Me: “Stop with the drama”  and S giving in with just a sassy tail swish this time ;)

Sophie: “Oh yes, canter, it’s my favourite, why didn’t you just ask?”

While I don’t necessarily regret how slowly I’m taking things with her, a part of me thinks if I am in this position again with a young horse I might wait a little longer to get to work. If I knew then what I know now about how much she’d mature mentally and how easy she’d be this year vs last year I might have just waited and saved knocking my confidence. Then again, maybe it’s partly the year of getting out and doing stuff together regularly that’s made a difference. Who knows :)

There were days last year where simply getting her near this end of the arena was a challenge. 

Hope you all had a good weekend!