It has been a month since my last post, which is not terribly surprising considering the weather we've been having here. One day it's 50 & sunny, the next it's in the 20's & snowing. All these fluctuations & snowfalls have caused my pastures to become mud-city. Not fun. And even though it's mid-March, the horses are still holding on to their winter coats; very minimal shedding occurring.
This is supposed to be a good weekend though, starting out today with a sunny day in the 50's. I had the farrier out & for the first time ever, all my girls are barefoot! Because of the mud, we decided to keep Meadow barefoot until it dries out (she lost her last set of shoes ~2 weeks in), and we're trying Braz out to see if she will be okay without shoes. Meadow will get a full set around next time, weather & attitude permitting. :) Attitude-wise, she did great today for her trim. Elly got the prize for brat-horse. She gets very antsy when nervous. She is definitely going to be a spook & bolt type vs a spook & stop type.
Speaking of spooking & stopping, after the farrier finished, I took Meadow to my friend's indoor to do some work. We had a really great ride; she was responsive, forward, and listening. She did spook a couple times (not surprising since she hasn't been ridden consistently for a couple months now...), BUT she settled down immediately afterwards back to work. I was very proud of my 4--coming 5 yr old--brain. It will be interesting to see the difference between her & Elly.
During the ride, we worked on a bit of everything. We started with a nice, easy walk warm-up sprinkled with some walk leg-yields. Then did a trot warm-up with trot leg yields. Then, worked on maintaining a balanced, connected trot on the circle with lots of walk/trot transitions. To finish up the trot work, we practiced some small trot/big trot for the first time and she was really pushing for the big trot which was great. She wasn't able to stay through the entire time, but that's a strength thing, so as soon as we can get riding consistently and throw in some conditioning hillwork rides, I think her progress will be incredible. Finally, to cap off the session, we attempted canter each direction. Probably a combination of weakness & tiredness resulted in more bucking/crow-hopping than cantering (especially to the left), but we were at least able to get the depart on the correct lead once each direction. Again, hoping that will come as we work on the conditioning.
After getting home, I parked the trailer strategically so that I could practice trailer-loading with Elly. I am going to feed her in there on the weekends & start taking her on little trips (ie, gas station, around the block, etc). I need to get her comfortable with the trailer so that I can start taking her out to expose her to things. I would love to start doing that when Erik & I get back from our honeymoon in April. I have 4 weekends between now & then and A LOT to accomplish. Hope the weather cooperates... the weathermen are calling for snow on Monday already... so who knows... when will Spring officially spring??
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