Wow, I've been a bad bad blogger. Again.
Arya and I have been doing some ground work with our new stick and string, and I finally got my kimchee together and got on her over the weekend (vs just ground working) and found that she had not backslid too badly under saddle. She did a little willful misinterpretation of my leg, but overall was quite decent to ride.
I have been riding Bailey as well, on the flat and over fences.
I've felt really guilty lately, because Bailey has been playing second fiddle to Arya.
Honestly, she doesn't seem to mind. She's never been jealous of me taking another horse out, and as long as she's supplied with snacks. She's out of shape, for sure, and a bit overly attached to her sisters (especially Bizzy, who she hung out with while Arya was gone) but our rides, on the whole, have been pretty great.
It's very strange to realize that Bailey is my "put me right" horse now; she's the horse I get on to focus on myself and my riding, and any issues she has we generally can work through. She jumps, she dressages, and she kind of goes down the road (spooking all the way, but manageable). I am constantly surprised that she's rideable and does things I ask without too much argument.
Case in point was this weekend, when I whipped her out for a jump session early in the cool morning (generally a recipe for leaping and silliness) and had set up a very scary hay bale corner for her jumping pleasure. She spooked at it several times while flatting, and I made her walk up and sniff it (she sampled the hay, because fatty). When I finally pointed her at it, I was already trying to remember where my crop was, because I was sure she was going to stop and be a shit.
Instead, she happily galloped it, and jumped it with what felt like several feet to spare.
Other than lacking a bit of fitness, she really is in a great place mentally - or, I guess I should say, she's grown up to be a surprisingly great horse. Gone is the uncontrollable horse of her youth, which is very heartening, as it makes me feel like I have a chance to have the same with Arya. We've had a tumultuous first year together, but I am keeping the faith. After all, I kept the faith with B through bolting, spooking, rearing and general noping-the-f-outing and she's grown up to be a most wonderful girl.
The day to day struggle will remain, of course, having the time. With all of the mowing and general work there is to be done, I need to keep fighting for ride time, and not lose it entirely to the farm. So far my pastures are holding up, but I need to get the last two pastures sprayed (with fertilizer) and need to weed whack and get a better dragging schedule set up so my arena stops growing so much grass. Farm problems are kind of the best first world problems though, and I'm still grateful for our little piece of the dream! Our hay is ready to be cut, so if anyone has some spare fingers to cross for a week of sunny weather, I'd be grateful. I'm so excited to have our first crop!
Arya and I have been doing some ground work with our new stick and string, and I finally got my kimchee together and got on her over the weekend (vs just ground working) and found that she had not backslid too badly under saddle. She did a little willful misinterpretation of my leg, but overall was quite decent to ride.
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| Arya's general thoughts on stick-and-string wielding humans |
I've felt really guilty lately, because Bailey has been playing second fiddle to Arya.
It's very strange to realize that Bailey is my "put me right" horse now; she's the horse I get on to focus on myself and my riding, and any issues she has we generally can work through. She jumps, she dressages, and she kind of goes down the road (spooking all the way, but manageable). I am constantly surprised that she's rideable and does things I ask without too much argument.
Case in point was this weekend, when I whipped her out for a jump session early in the cool morning (generally a recipe for leaping and silliness) and had set up a very scary hay bale corner for her jumping pleasure. She spooked at it several times while flatting, and I made her walk up and sniff it (she sampled the hay, because fatty). When I finally pointed her at it, I was already trying to remember where my crop was, because I was sure she was going to stop and be a shit.
Instead, she happily galloped it, and jumped it with what felt like several feet to spare.
Other than lacking a bit of fitness, she really is in a great place mentally - or, I guess I should say, she's grown up to be a surprisingly great horse. Gone is the uncontrollable horse of her youth, which is very heartening, as it makes me feel like I have a chance to have the same with Arya. We've had a tumultuous first year together, but I am keeping the faith. After all, I kept the faith with B through bolting, spooking, rearing and general noping-the-f-outing and she's grown up to be a most wonderful girl.
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| Hopefully Arya someday learns to do this |
Glad that things are going well!
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