Great Long Weekend

Well I already told about how well Saturday went, so I will move on to Sunday. Weather forcasted rain and/or snow all day on Sunday. When I left the house it was grey but no precipitation. I went to Peggy's barn first and did a bareback ride on Comrade. The great feeling from Saturday's ride was still there. Also still there, the German Shepherd nipping at his hocks. In the end we all survived, especially the dog.

Then it was on to my barn. I chose to ride the opinionated young girl first. She is very good at stomping her feet when she does not understand a concept.

Hmm, anything in the bucket?

Bending and softening while traveling straight is tough for her. Mom and I are still working through methods. On Sunday she was in a fighting mood. Eventually, I put my outside hand on the grab strap then using my inside hand I lead her head in and then used inside leg plus indirect rein to push her back into the outside. We did this at the walk. I stayed the same and let her figure things out. Light bulb moment. She softened so nicely and at one point she picked up a trot maintaining the contact. She had a nice soft, floppy neck when I got off her. Why are moments like this so satisfying with a green horse? It felt really good to break through.

Ooh, a camera.

Up next, DaVinci. I decided to put a saddle on him for the first time since his injury. As soon as I sat in the saddle I realized it was sitting too close to his withers. Well, he normally picks his back up after some warm up, so we headed out. DaVinci wanted  to go for a stroll around the fields which worked with the saddle situation. We had a great walk past the woodpile and the deer stands. He wanted to walk around the pond, but I had to say no because the grass was long and no way was I taking a chance with him. DaVinci was a happy pony when we got back to the barn.

My Polar Bear Pony :)

If you read Saturdays post, you will remember the crazy teenagers. They were back on Sunday. At least they came after I was done riding. After I fed the horses their dinner and was getting ready to turn them out, 2 of the girls came over. "Are you leaving soon?" "Can we ride?"
Cricket, Cricket, hmm.
I took a chance and said they could ride Dottie, but I had to get on her first. Dottie was lame for a while and we gave her time off. She has been looking frisky lately so I felt safe to work her. I only rode her a short time, but she felt good. Then the girls got on one at a time. In one of her prior homes she did therapy work, so she followed me around the yard. I stopped, she stopped. Such a good girl. She even followed one of the girls around while her friend rode. I don't know which of the three was happier. I love when my horses are happy. Sugar cubes and carrots made up for being used as a pony ride horse.  A lovely end to the day... with no snow.

Today revealed 3in of snow at home, but it melted quickly. To save on gas I took a miss on riding Comrade. Mom and Dad had plans to start painting the feed room, so I went to play with Roscoe. Armed with the camera and a lunge whip I was going to get a 8 month video of him moving. I got the video, but the camera did not end up sharing it. This was not the end of the technical difficulties. Later I tacked up DaVinci and Mom led Roscoe out to the field for a lesson in ponying. He was so quick to figure out about following. Mom took a video, but the camera again rejected it. So here is the one surviving image of the ride.

So my long weekend consisted of great rides, break throughs, happy ponies and a lot of work completed. I hope everyone else had as great a weekend.