I'm All Starts and No Finishes

I keep starting posts and not finishing them.

I haven't gotten to ride much this week (barn time tonight - YES!) and with the dog going off to hunt training, I'm hesitantly excited to do lots of riding in between worrying that he may die from lack of cuddles.

Cuddles are necessary when you're this cute.

Post stick jumping thoughts, I've had a fantastic, low demand, low fence jump school when I was intensely short on time and a dressage school, because, well, I got a new girth and wanted to use it. I'm petty, sue me. Both rides were in a snaffle, and both rides were without gloves; I'm starting to wonder if it's one or the other (or both?) that are contributing to the well behaved beast. We've done some canter poles (ok, they were raised cavaletti that she kept jumping in the dressage saddle) and the jump school maybe had a fence that was 2'3. It was all very low key and I have been nothing but happy with the red horse. 

Foxie has done more serious jumping lately than Bailey has.

And no, you didn't just misread. The retired horse with the blown suspensory did some jumping for me on Memorial Day... and she was great. It started with a lot of tack walking in the dressage saddle. Then we discovered a downed fence, and in the process of putting it back up... we might have gone and schooled in the XC field first. And yes, I jumped in Bailey length stirrups in a dressage saddle and a pelham, because we're swagtastic like that. It started with walking up the baby banks. Then trotting them. We tried the ditch, and besides a big dramatic stop-and-jump-the-littler-one-next-to-it move, she was happy to leap over them from the trot and roll over them at the canter. We tried the next size up of bank, and she was enthusiastic. Pointed her at one of the little 1' cavaletti jump things? Happy cantering mare jumped.

Happy jumping bean has always been happy jumping

It was interesting; she didn't swap her lead coming in like she used to, and she was very happy and pretty relaxed (albeit quite forward) for the whole affair. I seriously missed jumping that horse, and she's so different from Bailey. There's so much more horse out in front of you, and while I LOVE Bailey, there's something about the 11 year relationship between Foxie and I that makes things work just that much better together. She still didn't want to be held anywhere near the base, but she jumped happily and confidently, and I was really focusing on that because I do worry, sometimes, that her work ethic and need to please get in the way of her telling me that something hurts.

We jumped the middle one, for reference. 

She got a good bath, lots of pepper mints, and many pats for her efforts. Once she was cooled out and settled, I pulled  Bailey's mane (I can't believe she stood so well for that, either) and felt like riding her after such an annoying process would just be cruel. I'm looking forward to getting on the Bmonster again tonight. Not sure what's on the docket depending on footing, temperature and whether its raining, but I'm content. I'm not competing this year; maybe a schooling show or two, but that's it. I'm happy to just have my girls, and to be having fun. I'm thrilled to have XC to play on in the mean time, too!