perspective

On one hand, it sometimes feels a little silly to still need a ground person to assist with getting on the horse... But, otoh, having a ground person = getting lots of video! I see that as a net win lol.

hand grazing in new and interesting spots!! like by the outdoor mounting block we'll eventually graduate to using

And the video is so so helpful. Because y'all already know, how something feels is not always how it looks. Esp when our own minds might be clouded by external stressors or anxieties, it's easy to let those feelings color our perception of an experience. 

the charlie archives!! from bottom to top: 1. Sept 9 bought him. 2. Oct 14 not-quite-first cross rail. 3. Oct 16 trailer practice. 4. Oct 21 cross rails normalized. 5. Nov 5 first lesson off farm.

We had our first ride where conditions weren't really perfect, and I let myself feel stressed about it. A downpour started just as we made it up to the indoor, creating a persistent deafening roar on the roof. Other horses also came in and out of the indoor to escape the rain while we were hand walking. The horses were distracting for Doozy (esp when they lingered at the door..), and the noise was distracting to me. 

and more Charlchives! first real jump lessons in late December to early adventures and actually kinda doing the things in March.
reminder to Emma: that was months of work.

And I'm the type of charming personality that isn't always super emotionally flexible when things don't go perfectly to my plan. Like, I get hung up on the imperfect conditions without realizing that, actually, it was still fine tho lol. And there's video to prove it.*

(*Maybe just watch on mute tho LOL.)

pictured: days of work

The videos are also super helpful in that, at present, they're serving as kinda remote, after-the-fact, instruction. I could watch the video from ride 1 and see that, yea it's a big powerful slinky walk, but the horse is steady and rhythmic and consistent and ready to trot. So we trot in ride 2, and I see in the video that.... hm, I'm really slouching and doing weird things with my hands, but the horse is super balanced in turns! 

trying so hard to sit tall. still mushy in the middle tho lol. needs lessons!

So in ride 3, I work on fixing myself and honing in on practicing more figures -- plus, ground poles!! And from this video, we start to see more about lateral imbalances - am I going equally in both directions? Is the horse easier to turn right vs left? Do we go more quietly in one direction vs the other? 

what you don't hear: the deafening roar of downpouring rain on the roof

And so it goes haha. Bc, it turns out, when you separate me from the stress of the thunderstorm and slightly chaotic comings and goings, I can objectively see that this was our most exciting (in a good way) ride to date!

ermagerd trot poles!

Doozy started the ride wanting to break into trot, but I found the neck strap super effective at helping slow her roll without tugging the reins. It's too easy for her to invert and turn her neck upside down to evade the bit, but the neck strap is perfectly positioned (and less of an "in-your-face" aid) to help her get the message. Plus, pulling on the neck strap has the equal and opposite effect of pulling my seat into the saddle -- even more of a body signal to just steady up a bit. 

really trying to establish early that we ride off my body not my hands

We walked for quite a bit trying to just be cool and calm etc, riding figures, aiming at the poles, sometimes at weird and odd angles lol, before determining that the horse was ready to intentionally trot. The video encapsulates our total trot work for the day too (about 3min for those keeping track at home). 

the saddle doesn't do me any favors, per se, but it's actually quite comfortable and easy to sit in

She felt like she was rushing to me, but it doesn't look like it in the video. She's also still extremely drawn to the door, but I'm getting better about anticipating it and positioning her more successfully. 

"nbd!" -- doozy <3

We started aiming at ground poles at trot almost immediately -- the same two poles we placed the day prior. They were entirely a non-event. Mostly perfectly out of stride, sometimes a little close, sometimes a little far, but never a consideration. Great!

Even better: they give us something tangible to aim at, and provide real-time feedback on our straightness through turns while we executed frequent circles and diagonal changes of direction.

"wheeeeee this is actually kinda fun!" -- dooz in cruise control

I did feel like she got strong a couple times. And actually, had planned to bring her back to walk sooner than I did, but then felt like we missed the window of softness and she got a little rushy again (tracking left after the above screen shot). She seemed to go a little softer tracking right, so I changed directions again then found a soft moment to come down to walk. 

Interestingly, that isn't super obvious in the video. So I need to remember it's all small adjustments in feel. And maybe I should be more proactive in setting her up for turning left LOL. 

lolz turning left is hard, apparently
emma: "ma'am, pls proceed with the leftness!"

I walked a few more laps in each direction to reaffirm that we don't just dash to the finish lol. Then dismounted and pulled her bridle (she is AGGRESSIVELY ITCHY on her face after rides omg lol) and put the rope halter back on to do more hand walkies around the indoor too. 

Notably: these were her best indoor laps in-hand to date. Back in the earliest days with Isabel, I used to do our important practice stuff (like mounting, and actually even basic grooming) after our rides, bc she was too keyed up with anticipation to be super successful before a ride. Dooz might be similar, so I might experiment with riding first, then dismounting to start establishing more of the in-hand ground work stuff second. We'll see. 

walk transition is fluid

Because there is still a lot of stuff we need to accomplish in hand. And it's a little challenging for my Type A self to prioritize all the things, while also balancing the reality that I'm relying on favors from my friends who are willing to spare their own time being ground people. 

My hope is to more intentionally introduce hand walkies, and eventually riding, in company sooner rather than later. Again, it'll rely on friends willing to ride to Dooz's agenda vs their own, at least to start, but hopefully we can get that done soon. 

link to video from ride 3 here!

And we have our first horsemanship lesson next week, and I'd like to have her a bit more prepared. Which kinda sounds like 'cleaning the house before the cleaners come' lol, but you know what I mean. 

So. All good things! Honestly, it feels good to get back to the grind again haha. I still feel so much limbo with Charlie's soundness, we're basically just in "wait and see" mode. Which, ain't my favorite lol. Mondeuse to the rescue, I guess!