rides 6 + 7

I'll undoubtedly lose count of our number of rides sooner rather than later, but we did pass an interesting and slightly unexpected milestone this weekend. 

hacking out in moar company!!

We have officially completed more rides just hacking out vs in an arena doing 'work.'

learning about gates via observation

This wasn't really intentional, to be honest. Like, let's be real, I've been almost exclusively hacking out with Charlie (our "active sits" when he's sound enough) for months now... Didn't really need a second horse for that pursuit, ya know? 

lol technically from Ride 5... we'll take our pixels and we'll like it, dammit lol 

But with Doozy's cellulitis and resulting need for rehabilitative walkies.... That's just kinda how it worked out. 

not gonna lie, it was kinda nice to leave the gates to other riders since charlie usually ends up doing them all!

We learned during her first "hack," when she refused to cross the stream under saddle, that she's still not super confirmed in normal riding aids (like the "Go Forth Ma'am, And I Mean Now" aid). Realistically, that's something we'll have to establish under better conditions -- when she's already inclined to go forward (ie, when there's not a stream or other obstacle in her path), and when she's not mildly lame from her cellulitis. 

do we look like we're having fun?

So for now, we stick to conditions and situations that are likeliest to be 'easy.' There are still challenges in these rides, obvi, but they're more on the mental side vs physical. Like, wandering out into open fields among increasingly larger and varied groups of horses. And learning to be patient while waiting to pass through gates that must be opened and closed.

looks like an (almost) normal leg after riding around the fields for an hour!

I'm not going to act like this doesn't stress me out, either --- taking a new-to-me 5yo OTTB out into wide open spaces on her 6th post-track ride, while being quite out of riding shape myself... Ya know, it makes me feel a certain sort of way lol. Which may or may not result in occasionally struggling begging my buddies not to stray too far away from us. 

some of the scabs split open from the original enormous swelling, but everything looks basically ok

But it's honestly been really good. Doozy continues to be a more forward thinking animal than I'm used to, but she also seems equally quick in comprehension. She's quickly getting the hang of hacking out -- to the point that it doesn't bother her to march out ahead of her slower-walking company. Bc everybody walks slower than Dooz, apparently lol. 

happy to see definition around the tendon

She also figured out the rhythms and ways of gate crossings too. Which, well, we have a LOT of them at our farm. Any given hack is likely to include 4-6 gates that must be opened and closed. I don't insist that Doozy stand still while we wait on either side of the gate, but the alternative to standing is to wander within a fairly small-diameter zone in proximity to the gate (it's illegal to wander away from the horse handling the gates!!!!). She often prefers to just stand, thanks!

and happy to see charlie ears!!! <3 <3 <3

Things have also been on the "easy" side considering how extremely dry our region is at the moment. Areas in the fields that are usually spongey or marshy are bone dry, as are most of the little stream crossings plus the xc water complex. 

not sure grooming + tacking in a stall counts as a meaningful "first", but we did that too

Doozy is still a bit squicky about the mud or changes to footing, but mud is maybe less imposing than water. Plus, it tends to have less clearly delineated edges, which helps with reaffirming that, 'actually Doozy what I really want is for you to proceed, and we'll figure out the details later!' 

moar gates with friends!!!

In other words, I don't care if she follows a sacrosanct line of straight travel or whatever, but just that she keeps going forward (if occasionally slightly sideways) when we get to a mucky spot.

slowly but surely ticking off first-time visits to all the big fields 

But ya know, mud aside, it feels like we're accomplishing a lot even while doing... very little. She's learning to carry me and all my imperfections across varied terrain, with basically zero expectations other than "proceed." 

our chaperone was brave / confident enough to accompany us despite not having a saddle

And for my part, I basically keep my hands anchored on the front of my fluffy sheepskin halfpad. Which helps in a few ways --- 1, my hands maintain a predictable and consistent connection for Doozy, who is herself learning to travel with a longer and more horizontal neck. 2, any time I feel the urge to be reactive or grabby --- the halfpad is there for me and protects me from getting all up in the mare's face. 

#JustHackingThings

And this played out in kinda the perfect way in our ride 7, when while headed toward home, Doozy pulled kinda a bizarre little dance move. Sorta a flung head + grunting + striking out hoof + a sidestep too.  A weird short little move that was over before we quite realized it had begun.

Possibly related to being headed toward home, but maybe likelier triggered by a nasty fly bite. But then the movement was completed, while meanwhile my hands were right where they started -- on the halfpad -- and we all just kinda proceeded as we were before.

she's good, guys <3

In other words, literally none of us reacted to the dance move, including Doozy, and there was no reason to believe another move was imminent. Which is just the way I like it --- my training approach is to basically just... Not make a big deal out of things. Not to look for trouble or poke a sore spot. Not to dwell on mistakes, but stay laser focused on rewarding a desired behavior. 

A caveat to this philosophy is that it can be tempting to rationalize low-key disobediences -- like when I sorta complacently let Charlie get increasingly behind my leg, rather than risk rocking the boat. So ya know, there has to be a clear firm line on what I expect from the horse.

and always with the michael 

But for right now, these rides feel like the perfect way to establish that sort of "shared vocabulary" we'll need to actually be clear in communications and expectations. Or ya know. Maybe we're just wandering randomly around some fields lolz.... Eh, at least it's something!