Skip to main content

Wentworth Hunter Pace - June 6, 2021

After Margaret and I had such a fun time at the fall hunter pace, we opted to go again this spring! This time, while I rode Rejoice again, Margaret rode her horse Jester and had a friend ride Ladyhawke. All Kennebec Morgans!! Jester and Rejoice have the same dam and Jester and Lady share the same sire. Unfortunately instead of a lovely late spring day, we had one of the first intensely hot and humid days of the year. It was definitely a bummer, but the ride was mostly in the shade of the woods and we had a great time!  most of the fences were 3' coops but we found a small log and this hay to jump haha Until we didn't. 😑 We brought along a third friend who rode Margaret's older mare, Ladyhawke. She's a good rider but hasn't known Ladyhawke for very long and didn't realize how much of a cranky boss mare she could be at times. She kicked Jester right in the front leg just about halfway through the ride, and while the cut itself ended up not being a big deal in the

Lungeing

So today was a driving show that I was both co-manager and co-secretary. It was a LOOONG day, but it went OK. A small number of entries and a late day carriage accident were the low points of the day. :( (Horse is OK).

Anyway, I was tired when I got home. I knew I had to work Dreamy, but I just couldn't summon the energy to ride. So I figured I would lunge her. The last time I lunged her was October 2007, as I figured it would be a good way to work on her developing canter without the weight of a rider. In a word, it was awful.

So now that her canter has improved 1000% since then, I figured it would be interesting to see how she would be. If she was awful again, then I would just do some ground work and jumping on the line a la David O'Connor. We have not done any DOC stuff for a while anyway. Plus it was off and on showers and I rather get my surcingle wet than my saddle.

Of course, Dreamy was a rockstar and I wished I had just sucked it up and rode. :P We did some preliminary warm up walk and trot and halt work. Then I loosely hitched up my side reins and asked for a few strides of canter here and there. No issues.

Then I asked for half a 20 m. circle in canter and half in trot. Again, she was great. Good clean transitions, uphill canter, round, and no pacing. WOW. Walk break. Then we did some working trot and extended trot. Boy this mare can MOVE. The nice thing is that unless I really urge her on, her extended trot is no faster than her working trot. She just lengthens her frame and powers from her hind end. Ah, such a good girl!

Then we did a few full 20 m. canter circles once, then twice around.

She was just a perfect horse. We did a long walking cooling out. Not only was Dreamy VERY good tonight on the lunge, but she also LOOKED good from the ground. She has a really big trot! LOL

Oh, and of course, it never rained. :P I better get on tomorrow night. LOL!

Comments