Monday, January 31, 2011
more bareback
I tried again riding bareback for a short time. The snow is still ridiculously deep, and there is a crust in some places that makes it very unpleasant, and the road is hemmed in by high snowdrifts and she is wearing studs, so there aren't many places to go. We went up and down the driveway with great success and then I thought we would go in the woods, and she thought we wouldn't, but then when we did, I saw why she didn't want to. The footing was totally unpredictable and unpleasant, so we walked out in the deeper nicer snow behind the paddocks and then the driveway again. We tried trotting, which is the hardest gait for me bareback, and I sat it much better than usual, but found I had no leverage to slow her down if she didn't want to. If I actually pulled on the reins, it just slid me forward.
Thursday, January 27, 2011
I let FB take all my posts for over a year
but I think I am wearing out the FB people.
So here are some things we did recently:
There was a big snowstorm a few weeks ago with 2 feet of snow, and we went out with another horse and rider into a big field and trotted and cantered around. Angel was in her element, and could not conceive of stopping. She had big high gaits, elastic and long. It felt like what a dressage horse would feel like, I was told. She also did a remarkable piaffe, apparently also for fun, with suspension to die for. We have never done that before. Cantering/galloping was more of a bounding thing. I felt totally confident in her after the first few steps, she had that focused feeling that is her at her best.
Then last night I was doing barn chores, and she was stir crazy because of all the snow that has fallen, and the footing is no longer good, so we have not ridden in a week and a half. She was squeaking, bucking, rearing, kicking, pacing, just all wrought up. For some reason, I decided this was a good time to see how she would behave if I tried getting on her bareback and taking her out in her paddock. So I got on with a bridle in the aisle, and after persuading her that we were not going out the back door, she walked me out into the paddock as carefully as if she were carrying a baby. We did a little loop in the snow and came back in. I was so proud of her.
So here are some things we did recently:
There was a big snowstorm a few weeks ago with 2 feet of snow, and we went out with another horse and rider into a big field and trotted and cantered around. Angel was in her element, and could not conceive of stopping. She had big high gaits, elastic and long. It felt like what a dressage horse would feel like, I was told. She also did a remarkable piaffe, apparently also for fun, with suspension to die for. We have never done that before. Cantering/galloping was more of a bounding thing. I felt totally confident in her after the first few steps, she had that focused feeling that is her at her best.
Then last night I was doing barn chores, and she was stir crazy because of all the snow that has fallen, and the footing is no longer good, so we have not ridden in a week and a half. She was squeaking, bucking, rearing, kicking, pacing, just all wrought up. For some reason, I decided this was a good time to see how she would behave if I tried getting on her bareback and taking her out in her paddock. So I got on with a bridle in the aisle, and after persuading her that we were not going out the back door, she walked me out into the paddock as carefully as if she were carrying a baby. We did a little loop in the snow and came back in. I was so proud of her.
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