lesson on foot awareness

We jetted off for our lesson last weekend knowing that it'd probably be our only ride for a few days, given the imminent nose dive in temperatures. Postponing the fix-a-test clinic was disappointing - esp when trainer P noted how well we're doing on the flat (relatively) and deemed us ready... But next week will suit just fine too. 

Isabel was kinda testing her boundaries tho, and actually dumped my saddle (yes, the new leather one...) in the driveway in protestation of the girth. Never mind that she was visibly puffed up as wide as she can get... Grr (this is why we can't have nice things Isabel!)

It occurred to me that I'd been asking her to STAND since bringing her in from the field, with limited success. So fine mare. You want to move your feet?? Let's move your feet. Yup yup, lunge around me, trot trot, idc that it's a small circle just keep going... 

Needless to say Isabel was not pleased with that turn of events and wanted to be quite offended - that is, until she realized I was serious. Then she paid attention and stopped on a dime when I asked. And commenced acting like the world's quietest mare for the rest of the day. 

no joke - she waited loose in the lesson shed and never moved a foot. 

Meanwhile, back to the lesson: our flat work was pretty good!! Even at the canter in BOTH directions (gasp!). It took a lot of work, and I really really really need to pay attention to what Isabel is doing with her hind end when we're tracking right, since she wants to poke her nose out and her butt in. I'm getting better about correcting it tho, and controlling my own upper body and seat to help with straightness. 

she only made faces when it started snowing

Now that we're getting better about actual steadiness in the contact, P wants me to work more on getting Isabel to stretch out and *reach* for it. That happens in moments here and there - but not consistently. Just one more thing to work on!

panorama of ground pole exercise

We didn't really jump in the lesson, per se. Rather, we focused on footwork. There were 8 ground poles set up the center line (spread 4' apart to accommodate ponies and horses alike), and ten on a bending line from E to B. Some poles along each line were slightly raised. 

There was also a very low bounce at the far end of the arena at A (the doors in the pic above, tho you can't really see the standards bc they're brown).

We went up the center line a few times until the horses had more or less figured it out and could get through it correctly. The idea here was to let the horse adjust itself, while only providing minimal guidance on pace or track. Then we added in the curved line. 

tired yet of variations of this same pic? lol

The final exercise looked like: turn up center line from C through poles, turn right for bending line from E to B, cut across arena to canter right at E, canter around to bounce at A, trot, turn up center line from C through the poles, turn left for bending from B to E, cut across arena to canter left at B, canter bounce at A, then walk.

no action shots of Isabel, so instead enjoy this gif of B teaching Wick to bounce

Isabel handled it all really well. The curved line tracking right was more difficult for us, unsurprisingly, tho, the bounce on the left lead (so our second time through) was much more jilted and required a second trip to fix it. All said tho, I think Isabel understood the lesson and was able to make most of the necessary adjustments on her own.

So it was a good lesson. I do really enjoy the more technical aspects of ground pole exercises - and believe we're making good progress through the winter... But I will be SO happy to get back to coursework in earnest once we're back outdoors again! 

In the meantime, I'm slowly kitting out the trailer for our planned adventures this summer. The latest addition? This basic little rack for the trailer door. Right now it's hung from baling twine, tho it can hang directly from the door when I eventually take the plexiglass off the window. 

In a silly kind of way, it's almost like one of my new favorite things (except for the saddle obvi). We have collapsible saddle racks, and sure there are bridle hooks inside the trailer, but I want a place to hang our stuff when we're outside the trailer. And even better - we can still shut and lock the door with this stuff hanging there when we're away from the trailer. Yay for outdoor tack rooms!!!

What else am I missing to make our little trailer getup complete for a full day spent at a show???