lessoning thru the blahs

It was windy and snowy on Saturday (ughhhhh) so we ended up still in the indoor for our lesson at OF. Hopefully it was the last time for a while!! It was a good ride tho. 

Trainer P recently shuffled around the students in each group, moving some of the younger kids to an earlier lesson, with more advanced teenagers joining our group. The outcome is that things moved along more quickly - the six of us could canter simultaneously and everyone was prompt in taking their turns jumping. I like it! 

Except, our flat work was interrupted by some persistent coughing from Ms Iz. She'll kick off every ride with a few coughs followed by some snorts when we first start trotting. But this was a little different - it started pretty much when she stepped off the trailer and never quite stopped. We got some *very* nice trot work accomplished, but practically no cantering... 

*cough cough* - isabel

So when we moved on to jumping I rode Isabel pretty delicately, and she was more than happy to just kinda shuffle along to the deep spot. 

A few courses were interrupted by circles for Izzy to cough a bit - and maybe work out whatever was bothering her (we were thinking maybe she just had some hay caught somewhere in there). Mostly tho we kinda just blahhed around over the fences. 

happy ears engaged

P encouraged me to push for a little more tho - to pick a spot and really ride to it, and that Isabel would perk up if I did that. And of course she wasn't wrong (this is why she's a pro, I suppose haha). 

So once I put my leg on and started riding Isabel to the fences we got some nicer jumps (shocking, I know), and our last course was as close to an even and consistent rhythm as I thought we'd get for the day. So I hopped off immediately and loosened Izzy's girth, in case maybe she was feeling a little constricted through her chest. 

video here

P suggested that I take the mare's temperature when we got home, and monitor her for the next couple of days... Isabel's temps that afternoon were normal, but she spiked a fever that evening. Poor pony! Details tomorrow...