There’s nothing Doozy likes more than to make a liar out of me. This mare, she’s full of surprises. After all my whining and self pity about how far away we felt from just a month ago… Well, the mare would like to set the record straight haha.
sweet mare is tired for the first time in recent memory LOL
Well. Ok. Real talk. It’s a challenging environment for young hot blooded things like Mondeuse. It’s finally mild again, but the ground is still frozen under a thin layer of slick slippery mud.
There isn’t a whole lot to do in turnout other than commune around the hay ring and wait for sunnier days, ya know? Energy is going in, not working out.
lolol soooo close to express delivery!
Which is partly to blame for all her recent explosiveness. Well. That, and just who she is as a person. Ahem.
And it’s times like this where we benefit most from getting the ring to ourselves. We just need access to the rail, or ring mates who can occasionally yield the right of way or take turns doing stuff. It’s too unproductive to constantly be staying out of the way when what Doozy really needs is clear directions on Going Forth, Ma’am.
like so. well hello, mare who quite likes this bit!
So after yet another demoralizing attempt at productivity wherein we stole snippets of frazzled trot during the walk breaks of another rider’s jump school (bc Doozy was hellbent on *losing her shit* while said rider was in motion)… I made it my business to get out *before* work yesterday, and commit to a proper school with an unoccupied ring.
aaaand hello also to doozy’s patented scoot ‘n shoot move (the video has sound effects lol)
You know the type — where you set up intentional exercises in advance: 3 canter poles at 9’; 2 low bounce Xs also at 9’; skinny flower box between standards; 1 larger X with takeoff / landing poles at 9’; and low but built up oxer with trot takeoff at 7’.
PLUS! My favorite accountability partner: ye olde helmet camera set up on the wall to keep me honest.
go go gadget trot poles!
And bless her…. Doozy more or less just got to work. Like. Still explosively lol… Always explosively. And for your viewing pleasure, the video is mostly unedited so you can kinda see what I mean. Just these random little… episodes… little geyser eruptions, if you will. Then back to normal.
playing with flower boxes <3
I try not to indulge too much in the drama, ya know? Like, “Ok yes, duly noted, now let’s proceed…” haha. And that seems to work for Doozy, tbh. And is basically the main reason why it’s so valuable to have the room and rail to just get on with it.
the video is higher resolution but i swear these are bounces
The flat work for this ride didn’t start particularly fantastic… We’re not quite on that ‘4 Minute’ warm up game I posted about last month lol… But, eh, maybe not that far off either. At least for the purposes of this ride. In which my motto was, “Let’s get the “N” back on to the “FU” pls!”
our favorite pole-9’-X-9’-pole configuration
So we got on with it, and moved fairly quickly to the various exercises I set up. Doozy loves exercises. Something to look at, think about, contend with. Everything else disappears for her when she’s got a task at hand.
holy moley, i set myself an oxer and actually jumped it, yay me!
Like, true story: to get to this oxer, we had to follow the rail past the far door — a feat we haven’t accomplished in, ahem, weeks. There be birds monsters there, yo! Except while jumping. All is fair in love and war jumping, and Doozy happily cantered past the doors with nary a flutter.
look at how nicely she trotted to it!
Anyway. The exercises themselves? Went great!! The bounces felt a little optimistic when I prepped them, but actually Doozy was aces — even the first few times when she didn’t realize were were moving into Jompies Mode and *DID* get all silly passing by the open door… I just held my ground, held my line, and she figured it out.
Tried all the things lol — jumped them perfectly, jumped them sideways (bc #SillyAboutDoors), launched at them, and then finally tried the slow thoughtful approach. And each time was a breeze, good girl!
excited to be doing things again <3 <3
Same story for our pole-X-pole combination, which we jumped once each way, and then the little oxer to finish. It was like mare had run through all her explosiveness, realized it wasn’t doing anything except making the work a little harder, and so decided to just be civil instead.
a cookie for the biscuit!
Like literally just trotted right on up to the oxer polite as pie. Still did a little victory gallop afterward haha… But, eh, fiiiiiine. You do you, boo!
Video highlights for anyone disinclined to watch all 10min:
- 0:00 to 1:30 — Trotting, with some ground poles
- 1:50 to 4:25 — Cantering left, with ground poles + flower box
- 4:30 to 6:15 — Bounce drama
- 6:15 to 7:50 — Cantering right and more jumps
- 7:55 to End — Main jompies (other than the bounces)
related: lesson learned, Ms Thing just #CantEven when these loose straps touch her
All in all, exactly the kind of ride I needed for our first time jumping since, uh, December.
gotta be pony club approved, apparently
And maybe a good enough steam vent to mind her manners coexisting with lesson groups for the rest of our evening rides this week. A girl can dream, amirite?
stalker cats continue to stalk my trailer lol
So anyway. Here’s hoping the next 6 weeks of winter go a little bit better than the last 6 lol.. Maybe we’ll even make it to a lesson this month??
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